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Emergency Aid for Romania

Just two and a half weeks ago the following appeal was made:

In response to the emergency caused by recent flooding in Romania, Charles Storer, Trustee and Treasurer is leading an emergency convoy to South West Dolj County and/or South East Constanta County of Romania in less than two weeks time. We are therefore URGENTLY seeking support, both from Hope and Aid Direct's team members, but also from you, our supporters. You've all been very generous in providing funds and aid for the Easter convoy, but as at a week ago 1,049 homes had been destroyed and the number is rising daily, as at 5 May there were 13,401 internally displaced people in refugee camps etc. World Vision, Red Cross, and US Aid are all appealing for more help. These agencies fear further rain and more flooding in the next 30 days as water levels continue to rise.

The timetable – is for the two 40 tonners depart UK Wednesday 31 May; the two 7.5 tonners will depart Friday 2 June – it will be anything up to the usual 2 weeks duration – six airborne volunteers have confirmed.

What will we be taking - Aqua boxes from Rotary as water and sanitation is already a worry. Wellington boots, plus the usual blankets and food, as well as some clothes but as usual all the normal basics.

Despite the aid taken by Chas and the crews things remain desperate in Romania and every day there is more (mostly unhappy) news from the area. To keep abreast of the situation there are a number of links at the bottom of this page. If you'd like to read more please use this shortcut.

In Chas' own words "It  was a challenging 2½ weeks getting it together, but everyone in the team  helped to make it happen!"

Thanks to a fantastic and swift response from both Hope and Aid Direct team members, the public and Rotary Clubs, everything came together really quickly and the mini-convoy left on Wednesday 31 May with the following aid:

The loads included 160 Rotary Emergency boxes, 200 Rotary Aqua boxes, 40 Rotary Shelters, 10 pallets biscuit, 6 pallets cereal, 10 pallets new clothing and loads more besides. 

Daily reports:

The convoy hopes to arrive Hungarian/Romanian border by Saturday night – crossing into Romania on Sunday, clearing Customs Monday 8.00 am and drive to Craiova where distribution planning and distribution will start. The flying team fly out on Monday 5 June and return Saturday 10 June. 

Dave Smith has stepped in as HGV at last minute and will fly back from Budapest when we drop him en-route, then fly back out to Bucharest a week later in order to drive the truck back again.

Peter Wheal-Jones new truck has been cleaned and made ship-shape and is standing to attention waiting for the off as the first Hope and Aid Direct Truck acquired for the purpose.

We’ll be working closely with World Vision, who in turn have a good working relationship with Blythswood Care who have set this up for us and both have people on the ground. We have been advised to take Wellington boots which I bought a selection of yesterday and we now just want to get on with it.

Day 1 - Wednesday 31 May 2006 - There's twice as much paperwork for this trip than for the Kosovan convoys, but it all came this morning. Charles went to depart but Robin Hood wouldn't start and he had to call Bill's garage for help, which very swiftly arrived. The rest of the crews were diverted to his house in case of major problems, but the truck was successfully started. We just made it to the ferry in time after buying a new battery. Starting again at 4.00 am.

Day 2 - Thursday 1 June 2006 - A good but freezing day with sleet and rain. Robin Hood had a suicidal wind screen wiper which threw itself around the wing mirror. Apart from that it was a good day led by Bill (Nibsy). Arrived at Plzen (Czech Republic) 8.30 pm local time. More news tomorrow.

Day 3 - Friday 2 June 2006 - Not much to report today. The sun turned to rain then more rain. The trucks are behaving, especially given the weights they are being asked to carry. It’s a real struggle up some of the hills, but still getting there. Stopped just inside the Hungarian border. Superb goulash and excellent beer.

Day 4 - Saturday 3 June 2006 (am) -  Big Mother has been suffering from fuel and air problems, but now back on the road thanks to Bill "wonder-spanner" Nelson. Well done Bill.

Big Mother

Day 5 - Sunday 4 June 2006 - It seems the fuel and air lock problems are ongoing, truck needs bleeding before starting it every time. The border crossing created mountains of paper and took 9 hours and 22 minutes. Bill won the bet for how long it would take. Dave Smith got his plane back ok. It’s going to be a 3.00 am start on Monday.

Day 6 - Monday 5 June 2006 - Bill started the day at 4.00 am, by bleeding the fuel system on Big Mother, (which is now a daily requirement), then he discovered his truck's alternator drive had failed. Repairs were achieved while waiting at customs. Bill then got fleeced in the confusion over their weird Romanian currency. Finished the day by reversing into Robin Hood - no damage other than pride.

Nibsy

The day was finished off by a very pleasant detour around Arad on the way to customs, which were cleared after a few worrying moments. Their computer randomly selected all four trucks to have every one of the  boxes opened. The Customs man decided that was completely impractical. The airborne crew arrived safely. All drivers are out of driving time now, but looking forward to arriving tomorrow.

Day 7 - Tuesday 6 June 2006 - A long day today, Big Mother had to be bled and we put a new battery on Robin Hood. Arrived at Craiova at 1.00 pm and had a welcome shower at the hotel and off again at 2.00 pm. Met by World Vision and taken to Bailesti over an hour away. Met up with the flying team and received briefing from them after their reccee. The flooding and subsequent destruction is much worse than expected.

The destructive power of water

Store rooms are too small and there are access problems. However, we managed to more or less requisition  a grain store close to Rast refugee camp and village to use as a warehouse. Also organised a fork lift, unloaded all loose boxes  and discovered  IDPs (internally displaced Individuals) in barn behind grain store. Steve described a road that disappeared into water as far as he could see. Driven past camps of tented families. The world seems to have missed this natural disaster.  Back to hotel to eat at midnight.

Day 8 - Wednesday 7 June 2006 - (Maura writes) the day started with glorious sunshine to be followed by thunderous storms. Wellies and sodden clothes didn't stop the loading of trucks. Exhausted but humbled by the resilience of villagers without homes, food or clothing. I met with seven families living in a cow shed on mud floors - they are blessed, they are not under canvas with rain lashing and the ground like quicksand, only its mud we sink into. The trucks have a hard few days ahead, but nothing to what the villagers have to endure.

Farmland or seascape

(Chas writes) Conditions here are really appalling and what has shocked us all is the lack of other bigger NGOs. (non-governmental organisations) Houses are completely submerged or are piles of rubble, some are literally sinking or falling over. The weather is dreadful. The Danube is now 12 km wider than normal. (That’s 8 miles!) We need many, many more emergency boxes of all types. We have bought £1,100  worth of extra fresh food and hope to get more.

Eight miles from the Danube

There have been many tears today, but morale is much higher. It’s all too reminiscent of the Tsunami aftermath.

Bleak fields of water

Days 9 to 11 (Thursday to Saturday)

These were long days, with everyone working tirelessly. We normally managed to distribute to about 60 families from each 7.5 tonne truck each day – during these 3 days we distributed to an average equivalent of 108 families per 7.5 tonne truck. Each day we were there, we also worked directly from the 40 tonners and distributed to about 500 families at a time.

Children in their new back gardens

There were 1,110 family recipients in Rast, 131 in Negoi, 281 in Bistret, 568 in Carna and 500 in Macesu de Jos.  

Sunday 11 June 2006 - Everyone is very, very tired, but the job has been finished with 2,590 families (8,000 individuals) receiving aid. The crews bought 12 tonnes of fresh food (at a cost of £2,300) to add to the 50 tonnes of aid which we took to Romania, which included 20 tonnes of tins, biscuit, cereal and flour. Also sent 4 tonnes of aid off with Lew Aubrey of Growing Care to the eastern counties. All distributions have been completed along the south Romania side of the Danube. We worked with World Vision who were excellent. Many houses are still flooded. Full statistics will be available when everyone returns home.

The crews witnessed the birth of a brand new town today at Rast camp where, to our astonishment a church was built overnight last night. How fitting that we should leave large piles of food and toiletries near the church today, for them to distribute! Everyone has been humbled by the smiles of the local population as well as by their resilience.

Dave Smith has rejoined the crew.

We are finding it very difficult to understand why local neighbours don't help. Like the rest of the Balkans the place easily gets under the skin.

And a final comment from Chas today "....... I've never seen anyone fishing in the middle of a field before!"

The Road Disappears

Monday 12 June 2006 - Departure day today, at 9.30 pm the convoy had just crossed the border into Hungary. It had been a long and bumpy road to the border, where the convoy drove past a long line of trucks to make the crossing. All now having a well earned beer or two.

Tuesday 13 June 2006 - Started the day with Robin Hood's passenger door lock breaking. Hasty repairs undertaken. The rest of the day was taken up by driving, with a stop at Prague where everyone had a pasta party on the back of Robin Hood. The 40 tonners made a 5.00 am start to dash across Europe for a 2.00 am Ford ferry tomorrow morning, with Nibsy and Robin Hood following on for the 10.00 am on Thursday. The weather is hot and Robin Hood's heater is still working at full blast.

Thursday 15 June 2006 - HOME. The second ferry docked early at just after 6.00 pm shortly before England scored. Bill and Norman went straight off to Rotary to report. Kevin is nursing a sore chest after falling off the back of the truck. All drivers are exhausted, but the mission has been accomplished. This has been one of the most timely, successful and important aid convoys to date.

Statistics will be available after the Isle of Wight Cycling Challenge this weekend to raise more money.

Epilogue (Chas writes):-

Bev and I (Mr and Mrs Bev as our friend Heather describes us) completed the Isle of Wight cycling challenge of 66 miles and 6 ferries last weekend, in 12 hours 40 minutes.  It was 36 hours after getting back from Romania; A viciously hot day cycling through lovely countryside and a chance to reflect on the previous few weeks.

As I write this epilogue to the trip while waiting for the rain to stop at Wimbledon, I’ve just been reading that flash floods in Romania are still wreaking havoc and destroying lives as well as property. In Craiova where we had been based, over an hour from the flooded Danube, the streets last week were likened to Venice canals with water a metre deep! – More rain in 10 minutes than normally falls in a month! And the worrying thing is this seems to have become the norm in Romania!

For me, the most striking thing about the Romanian flooding was the similarity and déjà vu comparison with Sri Lanka after the Tsunami. Clearly the Asian Tsunami was on a much bigger scale, but both were natural disasters, both destroyed some homes completely, whilst others were spared, both had occurred originally 100 years earlier and in both cases, the country just a few miles in-land seemed unaffected (at least that was the case in Romania until just days after we left)

In Romania we met people who told us that they were warned they would have to leave their homes and others who said they awoke in the night and had to swim for their lives. Thousands of tethered animals drowned and flying crop sprayers were used to spray disinfectant before areas could be cleared of the carcases. We distributed aid on one side of roads where the other side was lapped by the water on the beach that weeks previously was farmland, 8 miles from the Danube. To get to some of the villages we had to drive through the water, returning at night in the dark and crossing with just the trees either side to guide us! Some of our photos may shock you, but these are only a few of the 1,500 homes that were similarly destroyed.

I will continue to monitor the Romanian situation during the coming weeks and if our resources and stamina will allow, I may well be recommending some form of further help during the coming months, but our help is still so much needed in Kosovo and that must be factored in too!

I’m awaiting final statistics from our friends in World Vision in Romania, but I guess they are still very busy at the moment. From what we know already, I can provide the following:-

A tough job, undertaken well, by a great team!

Current Situation

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