On 4 June, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán declared a state of emergency due to the record high water levels expected on the Danube from Wednesday.

More than twenty people have been evacuated so far in Pest County and some settlements along the banks of the Danube in Bács-Kiskun County are expected to be without electricity from Friday. The latest estimates suggest that the Danube in Budapest will peak at 875cm on 10 June.

Flood prevention efforts are underway both at Government and civil levels. Public authorities, local governments, inhabitants and volunteers are effectively coordinating efforts in order to prevent flood waters from reaching the interior, Governing Party MP Péter Harrach said today at a press conference in Vác, located at the centre of the Danube Bend. Fidesz party’s communications chief Máté Kocsis announced today that the party would delay its congress, originally planned for this Sunday, and all congress delegates, mayors, Fidesz members and activists are asked to instead participate in flood prevention efforts around the country.

Almost a thousand civil guards are currently working in four counties and the Hungarian Defence Force has also been deployed to help flood prevention efforts. Defence Minister Csaba Hende recalled at a press conference today that whilst at the time of the change in government in 2010 the Hungarian army had only of a small number of reservists, in 2013, in addition to the army’s professional staff, 4700 reservists are deployable to help protect against the current, unprecedented Danube flood.

The National Humanitarian Coordination Council aimed at coordinating the work of organisations engaged in flood defence operations held its first meeting this morning. The participating aid organisations and charities will coordinate the collection of donations and the distribution of aid packages, Human Resources Minister and chair of the Council Zoltán Balog said.

President of the Republic János Áder expressed condolences and sympathies over the fatalities and damage caused by floods in letters sent to his German, Austrian and Czech counterparts and he wished successful operations to all the participants involved in flood protection work along the Danube and Moldova rivers.

(Prime Minister’s Office, International Communications Office)