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“This is the ninth day of the flood defence effort, we’re already past the half-way mark, we have started the countdown, according to our calculations, there are another five days left of the defence effort requiring our special attention,” Mr Orbán said. He added that while they had hopes that the flood might recede sooner, their official calculation was that we had to get through and endure another five difficult days before the country could breathe a sigh of relief.
He said on Friday flood defence work had been carried out on a section of 755 kilometres; this is only one kilometre more than on the day before which clearly indicates that “we are past the halfway mark.”
He stressed that we had to ward off the threats of a water level which remained below that of the 2013 flood, and this was also being reflected in the calm and composed pace of the defence effort. The water level on the Leitha at Mosonmagyaróvár was 29 centimetres lower than the highest water level ever recorded in history. Peaking on the Danube at Nagybajcs remained 50 centimetres below the 2013 level, at Komárom the flood peaked 55 centimetres, at Esztergom 61 centimetres, while at Vác 55 centimetres below that level. As expected, in Budapest the water level will remain 59 centimetres below the 2013 level, he listed.
He highlighted that the water had receded approximately a metre at Szigetköz. At present, the highest water level is at Vác, and it will soon arrive in Budapest where the flood will peak on Saturday, meaning that in the afternoon, they will be able to turn all their attention to settlements South of Budapest. He indicated that – as expected – water could recede from the embankment at the beginning of next week, a day or two earlier than they had previously expected.
In answer to a question, he said in the morning he spoke to the Mayor of Budapest at the meeting of the operational group, and he, too, takes the view that the defence effort in Budapest is making good progress. There is good cooperation, they have not identified difficulties on a single point, and there is coordinated cooperation between the Budapest and state flood defence teams. There are difficult sections such as Római part, however, the defence lines have been designated and these have been duly reinforced. The Prime Minister believes that the defence systems of the capital and the state together have been able to protect Budapest.
The Prime Minister continues to ask the leaders of the defence effort to not allow their colleagues to drop their guard because most bursts, accidents and seepages occur during the period of receding. It may well happen, he added, that a couple of days of laziness or laxity could ruin all the successful defence efforts made to date.
Mr Orbán additionally asked everyone to not go out to the Danube banks to watch the peaking of the flood because by doing so they may hinder the defence effort, or to choose an observation point where they do not hamper any intervention that may be required.
According to his information, in contrast to the day before when 6,149 persons took part in the flood defence effort on the part of the professional services, on Friday only 5,344 persons were required. Another 170 persons were mobilised by the water management authority, the number of civil guards taking part in flood protection work increased from 317 to 574, while at present, only 900 members of the military are required compared with 1,469 earlier, he said, indicating that on the southern section of the Danube they have deployed military units on standby duty.
He said based on the reports of mayors, on Friday 2,753 volunteers participated in the flood defence effort, while today this number has decreased to 1,286. In his view, this is enough because all the sand bags have already been filled and most of them have been deposited as well, meaning that at this time, the task in hand is to maintain monitoring services and patrols.
He said the number of priority locations under municipal flood defence had to be increased. However, this does not mean that these settlements are in direct danger, they merely “require more attention.” Accordingly, they have accumulated further sand bags, and so compared with Friday, there are 30,000 more sand bags, 1,893,100 in total.
He spoke about the fact that on Friday at Pilismarót, the “embankment constituting the backbone” of defence slipped, and divers had to be deployed who managed to reinforce the slipped embankment in a struggle lasting for 16 hours. At Vác, in response to the extreme pressure, sewage shafts burst, but these were successfully “captured” – the term that water management experts use. At Kismaros, “we’re fine,” there is a round-the-clock monitoring service, he observed.
The locations requiring special attention in the next few days are all settlements situated South of Budapest, he said, mentioning Ercsi, Kisapostag, Dunaföldvár and Paks, indicating that the level of preparedness is 100 per cent everywhere. In Ercsi, there is a flood defence line of the length of 262 metres and 10,400 sand bags have been deposited. In Kisapostag, they were required to build a temporary dam for which 5,000 sand bags have been used, while in Dunaföldvár volunteers and water management personnel have deposited 2,500 sand bags for the reinforcement of the dam. Paks requires special attention at all times, but there the flood defence facilities are always in the best possible condition, he added.
In answer to the question of how much money Hungary may receive from the EUR 10 billion offered by the European Commission to the countries of Central Europe affected by the flood, Mr Orbán said it is the historical experience of the Hungarians that when in trouble, they can only rely on themselves. He stressed that while we have to wait for a few more days before stating anything definitive, as far as he can see, we have succeeded in this effort, we have stood our ground, we have protected the country.
“Whether someone somewhere at some point – a lady called Ursula, the European Commission – sends us money or assistance is like the dog’s dinner, we believe it when we see it. […] If money is forthcoming, fine, if not, that’s fine, too, we’re fine without it,” he said, adding that they welcome all assistance, but he does not recommend that “we scrounge with the posture of some miserable beggar.”
He recalled that Hungary had spent EUR 2 billion on border protection, was defending Europe on an ongoing basis, but the EU refused to give us money for that effort.
In answer to a question, Mr Orbán said they have reinforced all the flood protection facilities and the flood will pass without considerable damage. He believes we can claim victory when the flood has not only passed the traditionally endangered sections such as Budapest and the northern areas, but another 2 to 3 days have gone by. “We can calm down” when the process of slow receding conveys the promise that there will be no major accidents.
He added that the southern section can be regarded as better-protected, after the great floods of old, very significant flood protection facilities were built there. At the end of it all, we must keep our wits about us at Baja, that is where difficulties usually arise, but we will resolve them. The flood defence effort will peak at Baja on Monday; regarding this dangerous section, we will be able to say that the worst is over sometime next Wednesday or Thursday, he said.
Regarding comparisons with neighbouring countries, he said it would not be fair as in some of those countries there are casualties, life has been paralysed and there are serious problems. That is where trouble is coming from, that is where they have severe rainfall, they have less time to respond than we do. We can see how much rain has fallen, we are able to prepare better, we have more time, he pointed out.
He said in response to a comment posted by President of the Tisza Party Péter Magyar the day before regarding the number of volunteers, during the defence effort he does not recommend engaging in malicious disputes, instead everyone should concentrate on the task in hand. The more volunteers the better, he said, adding that they have a system through which they gather this information. The local flood defence committees register those who volunteer for work and every morning the operational group reviews the numbers they supply, that is the information that he uses.
This country belongs to us all, and at times like this, the state, local governments and volunteers, too, should do everything they can. They are grateful for everyone’s work. Regarding the expected costs, he said in 2013 the total flood budget amounted to HUF 19.6 billion; at present, they are well below that sum.
