Alert

Moldova - No. 30/2008

Heavy Flooding in Moldova

Geneva, 8 August 2008

Since 23 July 2008 torrential rains have lashed Central and Eastern Europe including the most impoverished areas of Moldova (Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east and south) where there are reports of heavy damage to crops, the principal source of income for the local population.

Heavy flood damage has been reported along the Dniester and Prut Rivers. Banks have burst at several locations, despite the draining off of reservoirs along the Prut, causing damage to downstream regions. Bridges have been destroyed, roads are impassable and communication lines are down. Reliable statistics are not yet available, but damage is heavy and in the order of millions of US Dollars.

While there have not been any reports of deaths in Moldova, more than 5,000 people have been evacuated from the affected areas and the authorities continue to evacuate people to temporary shelters in schools, hostels and tent camps.

ACT member, The Russian Orthodox Church (RoC), has already begun distributing relief to the victims. Church parishes and organizations in Ukraine and Moldova have started raising donations and supplying food and clothes to those in need.

The Russia Round Table (RRT), a special institution of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, dealing with emergencies on behalf of the RoC, plans to provide emergency aid (food, drinking water and sanitary and household packages) to flood victims through its church partners in the region. The RRT continues to assess the situation and an RRF request is expected for Moldova within the next few days.

As per previous ACT Alerts nos. 27 and 28, ACT members AIDRom in Romania and Hungarian Church Aid (HIA) are also currently assessing the situation in neighbouring Romania and Ukraine respectively. An RRF for US$ 58,725 was issued on 5 August 2008 for Romania (RRF 18/2008).

Any funding indication or pledge should be communicated to Jessie Kgoroeadira, ACT Finance Officer (jkg@act-intl.org).

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ACT is a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies worldwide. The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland.