Using open-source satellite imagery like Landsat TM, ETM+ and Sentinel 2 can lead to accurate cartographic products. We mapped flood events from Siret and Prut river basins in the last 30 years based on the availability of Landsat data archive. In this area were recorded historical values in flow rates for the entire Romanian territory: 4650 m³/s on the Siret River in 2005 -the maximum value ever recorded for Romania; 4240 m³/s on the Prut in 2008 -second maximum value recorded for Romania. The most powerful floods that took place in Romania in the last years were in

Abstract. The year 2010 was characterized by devastating flooding in central and eastern Europe, including Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. This study focuses on floods that occurred during the summer of 2010 in the Prut River basin, which has a high percentage of hydrotechnical infrastructure. Strong floods occurred in eastern Romania on the Prut River, which borders the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, and the Siret River. Atmospheric instability from 21 June to 1 July 2010 caused remarkable amounts of rain, with rates of 51.2 mm/50 min and 42.0 mm/30 min. In the middle Prut basin, there are numerous ponds that help mitigate floods as well as provide water for animals, irrigation, and so forth. The peak discharge of the Prut River during the summer of 2010 was 2310 m 3 s −1 at the Rȃdȃuţi-Prut gauging station. High discharges were also recorded on downstream tributaries, including the Baseu, Jijia, and Miletin. High discharges downstream occurred because of water from the middle basin and the backwater from the Danube (a historic discharge of 16 300 m 3 s −1 ). The floods that occurred in the Prut basin in the summer of 2010 could not be controlled completely because the discharges far exceeded foreseen values.

Abstract:In the summer of 2008 the Prut river recorded a historical flow of 7140 m 3 /s at its entrance into Romania. This flow was the highest ever recorded of any Romanian river. The high value was generated by high amounts of rainfall recorded first on the territory of Ukraine and then in Romania. Unfortunately, there were some discrepancies between the data transmitted and intercepted from the Meteorology National Agency and Hydrology and Water Management National Agency. This is why the amount of precipitation which fell over the territory of Ukraine could not be monitored in time and punctually. Nor could the high flood wave moving rapidly from the upper basin to the lower basin. The high flow of the upper Prut caused the accumulation of an immense quantity of water in the Stanca-Costesti reservoir. Under the conditions of precipitation occurring in the lower river basin as well, the levels reached the flood quota and the reservoir reached the maximum accepted capacity, with 0Ð1% insurance. The release of supplementary water quantities from the reservoir would have produced catastrophic floods downstream. Keeping the water in the reservoir could have broken it and the flooding, through backwater eddies, or the riverbank settlements. In such a case, it would have produced the greatest tragedy in the hydrological history of Europe. The most significant damage was produced upstream of the barrage, next to the localities of Radauti Prut and Baranca-Hudesti, as well as in the area of the reservoir, as a result of the phenomenon known as 'remuu', or backwater eddies. The floods of the Prut river occurred between the end of July and the end of August.

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The Siret River originates from the Wooded Carpathians (Ukraine) and has a length of 559 km on the Romanian territory. The upper river course is set on the Ukrainian territory, the middle course flows through the Suceava Tableland, and then the limit between the Moldavian Subcarpathians and the Bârlad Tableland, followed by the lower course crosses the Inferior Siret Plain. The hydrographical network includes 1,013 water tributaries (representing the richest river from this point of view in Romania) and has a length of 15,157 km, which represents 19.2% of the total length of the Romanian river network. This materializes in a density of 0.35 km/km 2 , compared to 0.33 km/km 2 which is the average for Romania. The Siret River has the greatest watershed area, with a total surface of 42,890 km 2 , which represents 18.1% of the Romanian territory. Its discharge is the highest of all internal rivers of Romania, with an average discharge of 210 m 3 /s at the river mouth, and this is caused by the fact that most of the tributaries come from mountainous sectors, namely the Eastern Carpathians. In the summer of 2005, the most powerful floods ever occurred in the Siret River watershed with significant negative effects on the country's economy. Considering the multiannual average discharge of 210 m 3 /s, the maximum discharge recorded on July 16, 2005, was of 4,650 m 3 /s at Lungoci. The main cause of these events is the deforestation of the small watersheds located in the mountainous sector of the counties of Vrancea, Bacau and Neamt. The total surface affected by floods was of 58,323.936 hectares, of which: 34,142.349 ha (58.54%) arable land, 6,697.486 ha (11.48%) orchards and wine-growing plantations, 1,863.698 ha (3.20%) built areas, 2,866.313 ha (4.91%), forests 4,915.985 ha (8.43%), waters 2,081.047 ha (3.57%), and unproductive land 5,757.058 ha (9.87%). Besides the material losses (over 10,000 houses completely destroyed), 24 human deaths were recorded together with the loss of thousands of domestic animals, whose overall value exceeded two million Euros. The estimation of the extent of the flooding and its impact in the Siret River watershed has been performed using LANDSAT TM 2003 satellite images and the FAO-LCCS classification methodology, in the ASR-CRUTA remote sensing laboratory, with the images offered after activating the International CHARTER (Call ID-98).

During the last few years, the north‐western part of Romania has been affected by catastrophic floods with most of the watercourses reaching their highest recorded discharges. This study reports the generation of a numerical terrain model and the simulation of a backwater phenomenon at elevation steps according to the volume of water accumulated at the confluence of the Buhai Brook with the Jijia River. The hydrological data are complemented by rainfall data and the careful recording of the flood behaviour during the entire period of its development. The main aim of the study is to identify the causes of the backwater phenomenon and to highlight the material damage inflicted on the town of Dorohoi. At the same time, the study uses cartographic model that was developed to establish which areas are at risk of flooding at various levels of probability. The catastrophic flood began on the Buhai Brook, a slow‐flowing stream that drains the areas to the west of the town of Dorohoi and discharged into the upstream sector of the Jijia confluence. The flood caused two types of backwater waves: one behind the bridges and the houses built on the floodplain and a second that followed the course of the main stem (Jijia) upstream from the confluence, flooding the Ezer Lake, which was created specifically to attenuate such floods. The spillway backwater phenomenon was inter‐basin as it did not occur in a single hydrographic basin. The causes of the catastrophic flash flood and of the inter‐basin backwater overflow are natural but also reflect anthropogenic influence. After the lake filled, the discharge into the Jijia was controlled and the flooding downstream was thus greatly diminished. Though fortuitous, the backwater flooding was important in mitigating the impact of the flood wave from the Jijia River. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Sucevita catchment is affected by heavy rains, which produce annual floods with catastrophic effects. Among them, the material damages caused to the dwellings of Marginea village stand out. The present study examines the vulnerability of the population and buildings of a village situated in the eastern part of the Eastern Carpathians. By applying the multicriteria method, areas with high flood vulnerability were pointed out in the Sucevita catchment. Hydraulic modelling was carried out using the HEC-RAS software and revealed that 58 dwellings with high vulnerability will be affected in the case of a flood with an exceedance probability of 1% and 17 buildings in the case of a flood with an exceedance probability of 5%. By knowing the flood vulnerability zones, the appropriate measures can reduce the damages of a hydrological event. Moreover, the proper delimitation of the floodplain leads to adequate economic management and ensures the security of the population.

Abstract:The Siret River crosses northeastern (NE) Romania from the north to the south, and it discharges into the Danube, near the city of Galati. Between 17 June and 10 July 2010, significant amounts of precipitations in the mountainous basin of Siret were recorded. The floods comprised two periods with four bimodal cycles, and they were counted as among the strongest on the Romanian territory. The exceptional floods occurred in the rivers of Siret, Suceava, Moldova, Bistrita, Trotus, and so on. The most important compound flood wave was determined by the precipitations, which fell between 29 June and 1 July 2010, when significant amounts of rain were recorded, sometimes exceeding 80 mm/day. The high discharges on the Bistrita River-downstream from the Bicaz Reservoir-were controlled by complex hydro-technical works. The maximum discharge for summer floods in the year 2010 was recorded at the Dragesti hydrometric station: 2884 m 3 /s (historic discharge) compared with the preceding historic discharge (2850 m 3 /s) of the year 2008. The effects of floods were strongest in the counties of Suceava, Neamt, and Bacau. The floods on the main course of the Siret River were analyzed in correlation with the tributaries within the mountainous sector.