The2005 European floods hit mainlyRomania,Switzerland,Austria andGermany, as well as several other countries inCentral Europe andEastern Europe during August 2005. The disaster came at a time whenPortugal was suffering from intenseforest fires which left 15 dead and days before the powerfulHurricane Katrina hit theUnited States.
The death toll was 62, with 31 dead in Romania, 20 inBulgaria, 6 in Switzerland, and 5 in Austria and Germany. Thousands were evacuated from their homes; the rains were the worst flooding to hitEurope since the2002 floods.
Romania was the most affected by the 2005 floods, as it was faced with the most powerful and widespread floods and also the highest loss of life, with 31 dead. Total damages are estimated to be valued at more than 5 billionlei (€1.5 billion).
In mid August, theNorth-East region of Romania was heavily affected, with 1,473 evacuated from their homes inIași,Suceava andBotoșani starting from 16 August. In Suceava county, 555 km of roads were affected, while nearly 600 bridges were flooded, resulting in the flooding of 520 houses, 16 of which were significantly destroyed. Several communications networks, particularly electric cables and optical fibres, were also affected.
Before it had ended, on 22 August 2005, theMinistry of Interior was reported as saying that floods and landslides affected over 500 villages in 31 districts: 200 homes completely destroyed, 2,000+ other structures affected, 11,000 households flooded, 9,000 wells flooded with rainfall and groundwater displacement, 34,000+ hectares of farmland and 2,000+ hectares of forests and grasslands destroyed, 9 kilometers of highway, 265 kilometers of county roads and 906 other roads were all severely damaged, and 25 cities lost power.[1]
Floods were particularly acute in the central county ofHarghita, where flooding hit the town ofOdorheiu Secuiesc and surrounding localities in mid-to-late August. The flooding was most intense in the period from 24 to 25 August, when ten people were killed, a further five were declared missing and 1,400 households were flooded. Other counties significantly affected in late August wereMureș,Prahova andBistrița-Năsăud. The city ofTârgu Mureș, an important regional centre, was also affected by the rising of waters on theTârnava River, even though there wasn't a significant amount of damage caused to infrastructure.[2][3]
Innorthwestern Romania, the counties ofBihor andCluj were also affected, although on a smaller scale than Harghita. InCluj County, over 100 houses were flooded, with the flooding centred on the town ofTurda. Railway lines in the county were also closed. The localities ofPopeşti,Suplacu de Barcău andValea lui Mihai were affected inBihor County.
TheSwiss capital ofBern was also heavily hit after theAar burst its banks, and the town ofBrienz saw 400 residents evacuated. The village ofLauterbrunnen in theBernese Alps was completely cut off. The only exit from the town is by a very narrow gorge just wide enough to take the river, road and railway, and the river expanded to fill the entiregorge. This stranded thousands oftourists in the village, and the only way out was byhelicopter or by crossing one of the high Alpinepasses.
TheTyrol andVorarlberg states ofAustria saw many areas cut off by flooded roads. The lower part of theRhine overflowed, affecting the SwissGraubünden Canton, as well as parts of Vorarlberg. The riverDanube and itstributaries overflowed in many places, flooding parts ofGermany,Bavaria in particular. Several floodings and landslides were reported inLower Austria andStyria.
The floods also meant the temporary closure of many mountain passes, amongst them theGotthard in Switzerland, and theArlberg in Austria. On a section of the Arlberg, the road and rail were washed away.Austrian Federal Railways have issued astatement (in German) that the rail line reconstruction will take at least a month. The main phone and data line between Vorarlberg and the rest of Austria was destroyed and had to be replaced by a radio communication.With rain and flood waters subsiding on 27 August, people started to return to their homes, rail and road routes reopened and the cleanup began.
The town ofJaša Tomić inSerbia was devastated by floods.Poland, where seven bridges collapsed, andSlovenia were also affected by flooding in August.
Bulgaria andMoldova were also affected, though to a lesser extent. In Bulgaria, three months of rain and flooding killed 20 people and left 14,000 homeless. The country was hit by further floods in August (normally a very dry month), though these did not cause such widespread damage, but caused damage to the year's crops, causing an increase in the price of fruit and vegetables.Moldova was also hit by torrential rains in August.
