The Hungarian capital is expected to reach its peak flooding point on Saturday, with the expected level of the Danube in central Budapest at around 8.5 metres, compared with the usual height of 3.5 metres. The river only flooded more intensely in 2013, reaching almost nine metres.
Prime minister Victor Orban Hungary declared a critical flood stage in Hungary on Wednesday, although the lower Danube embankments in the city centre have been closed since the weekend and work has begun in the northern part of Budapest to prepare for the river flooding.
In the centre of Budapest, the boulevards on the lower embankments have been turned into islands since Thursday, access to the docks for pleasure boats has become impossible, benches, road signs and the Holocaust memorial “Shoes on the Danube Embankment” have been left under water, street lamps and traffic lights are becoming less visible every day.
The city authorities have closed access and travel to Margaret Island in the Danube in the city centre, where there are no residential buildings, but there are architecturally valuable hotels and sports complexes, as well as the ruins of a 13th-century monastery. The perimeter of the island is littered with sandbags. Since Friday, metro trains have not stopped at the station, whose hall is located opposite the Hungarian parliament building on the other side of the river.
According to Orbán, if the forecasts are met and there is not much rain in the coming days, next Thursday “we will be able to hang up our rubber boots.” Due to the flood, the Hungarian Prime Minister cancelled all international affairs, including a speech in the European Parliament, where he was to present the programme of the Hungarian EU presidency.
In early June, as a result of flooding, the level of the Danube in Budapest rose to 670 centimetres, so the lower embankments in the city centre, which were 6.5 metres high, were slightly flooded. The Danube in Budapest reached the same level at the end of December 2023, RIA Novosti recalls.
