Exceptional floods in the Prut basin, Romania, in the context of heavy rains in the summer of 2010

Abstract

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–1 July 2010 caused significant 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 2,310 m3/s at the Radauti Prut gauging station. High discharges were also recorded on downstream tributaries, including the Baseu, Jijia, Miletin etc. High discharges downstream occurred because of water from the middle basin and the backwater from the Danube (a historic discharge of 16,300 m3/s). 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.

Assessment of flash flood susceptibility potential in Moldavian Plain (Romania)

“…Its landscape is wave-like, with hilly areas, or shaped as low plateaus that are linked to a unitary geological surface, which is fragmented by the hydrological network. Furthermore, the landscape is covered with low plateaus or structural hills, with large, bridge-like formations, at average altitudes of 160-180 m, and they are placed on sandy clays, covered with eluvial clays, which are representative for the entire geographical unit (Ailinc ai, Jit areanu, Bucur, & Ailinc ai, 2012; Ioniţ a, M argineanu, & Hurjui, 2000; Romanescu & Constantin Stoleriu, 2017).…”