Hungary will face the highest flood wave of all time and should prepare for the worst, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in Győr, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron county in north-western Hungary on Friday morning.

Unfortunately, the Danube water levels measured at the border have already exceeded all-time highs, Orban told a news conference. The Prime Minister asked all Hungarians to cooperate in efforts to prevent the disaster and announced that the biggest forces are now being deployed at a critical section of the Moson branch of the river near Győrújfalu.

The Danube is expected to peak in Budapest on June 10, next Monday, well above the all-time high of 860 cm. The evacuation of 55 000 people in the Római-part suburb in northern Budapest, adjacent to the flooding river Danube, can probably be prevented by heightening the dyke there, Mayor of Budapest Istvan Tarlós said. Evacuation would only become necessary if the river rose above 875 cm and the dyke became damaged, the mayor added. A total of 30 000 sandbags have already been placed along the dyke and another 30 000 bags were prepared during the night. Regarding Margaret Island, which was closed on Tuesday, he said the area will be protected as long as the water level stays below 900 cm.

President of the Republic János Áder told journalists in the Győr-Moson-Sopron settlement of Mecsér, in one of the most vulnerable areas, that current defence measures had started earlier and are more organised compared to previous years’ flood prevention efforts. If in the next few days there will be no rain, then the disaster is likely to be avoided.

On Friday morning hundreds of professional fire-fighters from all over the country joined defence operations in the Danube Bend’s most critical locations. Water levels began to peak on Friday and will probably reach the highest levels at the beginning of next week.

(Prime Minister’s Office/ International Communications Office)