Government on Tuesday, August 20, to call off Budapest festivities in honor of King Stephen, who introduced Christianity in Hungary.
It came as a disappointment for this mainly Catholic nation where King Stephen, or Istvan, is remembered during the annual holiday as the leader who received a crown from the Pope in the year 1000.
However Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy told reporters that "it does not seem right to have fireworks (in Budapest), while thousands of people are working to shore up the dykes."
In addition to fire works, local authorities also cancelled a water show and a parachute descent in the rising Danube river, which experts say reached its highest level in one hundred years.
RAINFOREST
The decision to cancel the festivities came while tens of thousands of soldiers, fire-fighters and volunteers continued to place sand bags near the Danube as rescue workers tried to save thousands of wild animals from drowning at Europe’s largest rainforest.
Rescue workers began evacuating deer and wild boars to higher ground from the Gemenc nature reserve, about 150 kilometres south of Budapest, to prevent a similar situation as in Prague where animals died in a zoo.
Army helicopters also ferried food supplies to a village near Budapest that has been cut off from the outside world. In addition water supplies have been contaminated in several area’s, water management officials said.
EVACUATIONS
Yet, the Hungarian capital of two million people escaped a situation as in Prague or Dresden, where tens of thousands of people have been evacuated. Budapest Mayor Gabor Demszky told Hungarian media he is confident that the 19th century dykes will hold.
"Our forefathers had it about right when they planned against flooding," he said. Not everyone seemed convinced. "I come twice a day to see where the Danube goes, because I am afraid the river will still reach my house," said 58 year old resident Ferenc Csato, as he inspected a district where streets turned into rivers.
BosNewsLife reporter saw residents reaching their homes by small boats in the Budapest Romai part, named after Roman empire ruins.
GERMANY
While the river was slowly receding, German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder pledged that the European Union would include future member states effected by floods, such as Hungary, in a multi- billion dollar aid package.
This kind of support will be especially necessary in countries such as the Czech Republic, where in total 200,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in the largest evacuation program since World War Two.
In a controversial move the Czech Government cancelled an order of 24 Gripen fighter planes that was worth 2 billion dollars. The Government said Monday, August 19, it needs the cash to pay for the flood damage.
MARTIN LUTHER
Experts estimate that Central and Eastern Europe suffered about 20 billion dollars in damages because of the record floods, that killed about 100 people, and damaged historic buildings such as churches and cathedrals.
Most damage is believed to have been in Germany, including in Wittenberg, once the home town of church reformer Martin Luther.
