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In Brief
Final Report; Period covered: 29 April 2005 to 31 May 2006; Final appeal coverage: 59%.
Appeal history:
- Launched on 29 April 2005 for CHF 1,055,000 (USD 884,985 or EUR 684,735) for 6 months to assist 4,500 beneficiaries.
- The operation was extended by 7 months to 31 May 2006; Final Report is therefore due on 31 August 2006.
- Disaster Relief Emergency Funds (DREF) allocated: CHF 192,378 - including two DREF allocations of CHF 160,428 (USD 134,590 or EUR 104,140) allocated in April 2005 and CHF 31,950 (USD 25,945 or EUR 20,230) allocated in September 2005.
Summary
This Emergency Appeal was launched following the initial wave of flooding to hit Romania in April 2005. In July 2005, an Operations Update no. 3 informed contributors to this appeal of the necessity of widening the geographical coverage of the operation from the two counties hit by flooding in April to encompass the much wider and national scope of th e disaster. The type and quantity of relief items was also revised, following the continuing needs assessment carried out by the Romanian Red Cross in the field. As the waves of flooding continued into September, hitting some counties for the second or third time, the clean up and drying out phases continued. Communities prepared for an exceedingly hard winter with basic household food stores destroyed, and the hopes for autumnal harvests dashed by the continued waves of flooding. The operational timeframe was extended in December 2005, to 31 May 2006, in order to assist recovering communities with seeds for the spring 2006. However flooding again hit Romania in the spring 2006, making it impossible to plant seeds. Further food relief was distributed to victims of the 2005 disaster, who were again unable to assure their own basic food needs. Activities within the Emergency Appeal 05EA009 were completed by 31 May 2006.
A new Emergency Appeal was launched in April 2006 to bring assistance to the victims of the 2006 spring flooding, principally in the south and east of the country. A joint Romanian Red Cross/Field Assessment Coordination Team (FACT) and Regional Disaster Response Team (RDRT) was deployed in April 2006 to support the Romanian Red Cross with relief, water and sanitation and hygiene promotion activities.
This operation is aligned with the International Federation's Global Agenda, which sets out four broad goals to meet the Federation's mission to "improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity".
Global Agenda Goals:
- Reduce the numbers of deaths, injuries and impact from disasters.
- Reduce the number of deaths, illnesses and impact from diseases and public health emergencies.
- Increase local community, civil society and Red Cross Red Crescent capacity to address the most urgent situations of vulnerability.
- Reduce intolerance, discrimination and social exclusion and promote respect for diversity and human dignity.
Background and Summary
With the country still recovering from previous major waves of flooding in April and July, heavy rains between 18 and 26 September caused a sixth wave of floods and further destruction in 16 counties of Romania - with Constanta, Ialomita and Ilfov amongst the most severely affected according to official statistics. The country had effectively been coping with a continuous emergency situation for a total of six months by the end of September 2005.
In the last wave of flooding to hit the country, 16 counties in the south east and east of Romania were affected. Most of these counties were still recovering from previous waves of flooding. Some 340 localities were affected with 6 isolated, over 1,000 people were evacuated, six people were reported dead and three missing, 25 villages were isolated affecting over 300 households. More than 3,500 homes were affected, as well as 42,079 hectares of agricultural land, 5,094 hectares of pastures and 2,490 hectares of forests. The infrastructure was once again heavily hit, 192 bridges, 271 small bridges, 19 national, 88 country and 201 village roads were affected. The floods also took out of use 4,227 wells and 4 water supply networks and broke 9 power lines leaving 5 localities without electricity. A significant number of birds and animals (3,942) were also killed, increasing the health hazards already posed by the lack of clean water. This sixth wave of flooding also hit the capital - Bucharest - flooding houses, basements, streets and tunnels in three sectors.
As the country prepared for a long and cold winter, many communities were still dealing with the aftermath of the floods including the drying out process, the replacing of basic furniture and household items, in the knowledge that normal food stocks stored in the basement had been destroyed together with harvests, and part of the annual planting season had been missed. This situation continued in the spring, when plans to plant for the new season disappeared in further flooding which hit the south and southeast of the country.
The plan of action for this Emergency Appeal had to be constantly revised to take into account the successive waves of flooding, the larger affected area and the latest information emerging from continuing needs assessment conducted by the Romanian Red Cross. The revised plan also took into account the known and/or expected responses from donors either through the International Federation Emergency Appeal process or on a bilateral basis. The Austrian, Belgian, Danish, German, Hungarian, and Swiss Red Cross organized bilateral relief assistance, covering a portion of the needs. The overall budget for the Emergency Appeal was not reduced, although it was clear that the target would not be met through cash and in-kind donations received through the Federation channel. Although the Appeal framework remained intact, changes were made to the type and quantity of relief items sought, as well as to the area covered. The appeal was originally launched to cover relief distributed in Timis and Caras Severin counties. The area of actual coverage was widened to encompass 31 out of 48 counties in Romania.
For further information specifically related to this operati on please contact:
In Romania: Romanian Red Cross, Mihaela Steriu, General Director of National Society of Romanian Red Cross, phone: +40 21 317 40 52, Fax: + 40 21 312 84 52, email: dg@crucearosie.ro;
In Central Europe: Regional Delegation, Slobodanka Curic, Regional Disaster Management Coordinator, phone: + 387 59 260 383, mobile: + 387 65 665 747, email: slobodanka.curic@ifrc.org
In Geneva: Secretariat, Erja Reinikainen, Regional Officer, Europe Department, phone: + 41 22 730 49 20, fax: +41 22 733 03 95, email: erja.reinikainen@ifrc.org
All International Federation assistance seeks to adhere to the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Non -Governmental Organizations (NGO's) in Disaster Relief and is committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (Sphere) in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable.
For longer -term programmes in this or other countries or regions, please refer to the Federation's Annual Appeal. For support to or for further information concerning Federation programmes or operations in this or other countries, or for national society profiles, please also access the Federation's website at http://www.ifrc.org For longer-term programmes, please refer to the Federation's Annual Appeal.
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