Romanian President Visits Flood-Hit NE Romania

Romanian President Traian Basescu arrived Saturday afternoon in the heavily flood-hit village of Saucesti, in northeastern Bacau county, where he talked to the locals and promised them the village would have a dam to protect it from floods by the end of 2010.

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Locals told Basescu they want a protective dam, not flood relief. The President assured them the village would have a dam by the end of the year.

Local authorities started evacuating all the 2,100 village inhabitants Thursday, as the nearby Siret River threatened to overflow.

Prime Minister Emil Boc visited the same village Friday.

The village was also hit by the 2008 countrywide floods. At the time, local authorities promised to build a protective dam on the Siret, but the public auction for awarding the construction contract was challenged and works never began.

Basescu and Tourism Minister Elena Udrea visited Friday the Patrauti village, in northeastern Suceava county, and the town of Dorohoi, in northern Botosani county, both seriously affected by recent floods.

Twenty-three people have died in the severe floods that hit Romania over the past two weeks and thousands have been evacuated from their homes.

A heavy rainfall alert is still in place for 16 counties until Monday morning.

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