Caritas Focuses on Relief and Rehabilitation in Flood-Damaged Romania

Vatican City, 10 August 2005 – Caritas Internationalis has launched an appeal for just over 4.25 million USD to carry out relief and rehabilitation programmes in favour of flood-ravaged communities in eastern Romania. Heavy rains that began lashing parts of the country in early July – not letting up for more than a week – triggered severe flooding in the counties of Bacau, Vrancea, Galati, and Braila and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from their homes.
As the floodwaters began to recede, the scale of damages and needs became clearer. Reports indicate that 22 people lost their lives, thousands of livestock perished, thousands of homes were either partially damaged or completely destroyed, and vast swathes of agricultural fields were inundated. People whose homes were left standing still lost most of their personal belongings, including furniture and winter food stocks.
At the outset, a team from the diocesan Caritas of Iasi – where the affected counties are located – began visiting damaged communities to assess needs. Floodwaters hampered their efforts, however, forcing delays in visits to certain villages and towns until roads were cleared. Caritas Iasi set up operational teams responsible for identifying needs, selecting beneficiaries, and distributing relief items in each county. With coordination from Caritas Romania’s national emergency office, initial distributions of food packages, personal hygiene items, blankets, and rubber boots took place first in Bacau county and then later in Vrancea and Galati counties. To date, Caritas Romania reports that more than 3,000 people have received relief assistance.
Caritas Romania has elaborated a programme focusing on longer-term relief and rehabilitation work. Together with Caritas Iasi, Caritas Romania will provide material support to 2,000 people (or about 800 families) to help them get through the winter months. Families will receive nutritionally-balanced food packages, hygiene kits, and firewood for a period of seven months. Priority will be given to the elderly, families with many children, families with low or no income, and families with sick or disabled members.
Attention will also be given to stimulating small-scale agricultural production. Most of the people who lost everything relied heavily on agricultural activities. Under the programme, Caritas Romania will provide 800 families with tools and inputs (seeds and fertilisers) to start vegetable gardens, as well as chickens to produce meat and eggs.
Finally, Caritas Romania will work over the next year to build houses for 100 families whose homes were completely destroyed, and to repair an additional 100 houses that had sustained serious damages
Caritas Internationalis is a confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development, and social service organisations present in 200 countries and territories.

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