AUGUST 14, 2002

Flooding in Budapest?

The recent rains in central Europe have had a disastrous effect on several major cities, notably Salzburg and Prague and there are worries that as the water heads down the Danube there could be flooding in Budapest as well. The Hungarian Grand Prix is not at any risk but the city of Budapest, where most of the Formula 1 stays, could have some trouble if the Danube rises as much as it has in other places.

It is only three years since Hungary was forced to declare a state of emergency when 1240 sq miles of eastern Hungary ended up under water with locals reporting the worst floods in living memory. At that point Budapest was forced to close several roads close to the river because they were flooded.

It is however not expected that the city itself will flood as a vast amount of work has been done in recent times to reduce flooding from the Danube with riverbanks being built up, monitoring stations and dams having reduced the problem.