In June 2024, a major flood protection operation took place on the Danube and the Rába River, requiring national cooperation. The highest water levels ever recorded on the Pinka River were also breached. The scale of the floods was reflected in the high number of people and equipment needed to protect the area, but let's look at the facts in numbers.
The last two weeks of flood protection work in figures.
- Between 03.06.2024 and 16.06.2024, water officers were on duty 0-24 hours every day.
- At peak times, in the area of Northern Trans-Danubian and Western Trans-Danubian Water Directorate a total of 317 water professionals were working on the Danube River flood, 528 water professionals (including water authorities, NGOs, partner organisations) were working on the dams on the Rába, while 34 water professionals coordinated the protection as members of OMIT.
- A total of 371 staff from the Nyíregyháza, Miskolc, Debrecen, Szolnok, Budapest, Székesfehérvár and Pécs water directorates came to help on the two rivers mentioned above.
- In the most difficult days, a total of 946.8 km of flood protection had to be declared.
- Some 49 000 sandbags were used to raise the embankments.
Mr. István Láng, Director General Directorate of Water Management of Hungary and head of the National Technical Body (OMIT), said that the most important lesson to be drawn from the floods on the Danube and the Rába was that "extreme weather and hydrological situations can suddenly arise at any time, requiring a rapid response from those involved in the protection. At the same time, we must be prepared for the possibility that persistent and prolonged floods such as this one could test our ability to protect ourselves, our professionals and our flood protection infrastructure."
According to the flood alerts of 16 June 2024, no precipitation was expected in the catchment area that would have significantly affected the run-off of flood waves. The Danube flooding peaked everywhere in the country, only Baja and Mohács were under a level I. alert, but the river was also ebbing there. The Rába tide was still on at Győr at that time, with the upper reaches of the river expected to be seen only a slowing of the current ebb.
The experts pointed out that the dams were under pressure for an unusually long period of time, so their colleagues were still on duty to monitor the dams after they had reached their maximum level and during the period of low water as well. On 16 June 2024, the National Technical Board closed its two-week-long flood protection, which had been underway for two weeks in early June, thanks to the receding floodwaters and favourable forecasts. Subsequently, the remaining tasks were carried out by the relevant water management directorates under their own responsibility.
The whole water sector would like to thank the public and partner organisations for their cooperation and support during the protection, and the press for their continuous interest and the fast and correct information provided for the public – said in the communiqué realised by OVF on 16 June 2024.