SOA: FLOODS IN EASTERN ROMANIA

1) Aplicant

Confederatia Caritas Romania (Romanian Caritas Confederation)
str. Washington nr. 38
011796 Bucharest 63
Romania

Contact person:

Thomas Hackl, coordinator of national emergency programme

P-ta Libertatii nr. 20

440014 Satu Mare

Romania

 

Tel. : *40-261-710464

Mobil : *40-745-128699

Email : emergency@caritas.org.ro

 

Bank account:

 

Confederatia Caritas Romania

RO07 BACX 0000 0000 3011 7042

HVB Bank Romania SA

Piata Charles de Gaulle nr. 15

sector 1

Bucuresti

 

BIC Code: BACXROBU

 

2) General situation

Heavy rainfall in July caused floods in many regions of Romania. The most serious situation is in the four counties Bacau, Vrancea, Galati and Braila. Since July 10 in the Moldau region it has been raining without interruption. Meteorologists declared that in the first six month and some days of this year it has rained more than during an average year. Several rivers overflew its banks and a number of dikes broke. The mountain river Trotus in Bacau county had up to 100 times more water than usual during the last days!

At the Siret river passing through the Moldova region from north to south an amount of 4200 cubic meters of water per second have been measured – compared to 200 usually – which means half the amount of water of the Danube.

In the mountains the flood passed in a short time with high speed destroying houses, filling other houses and gardens with sand and stones. There the floods lasted only for some hours.

In the flatlands the water stayed for a longer time and reached the roofs of the houses in several villages.

The water killed 22 persons and thousands of animals, thousands of houses have been destroyed and people lost all their belongings.

The government published a report about the damages caused by the water stating that:

- 110 villages and towns have been affected
- 3 571 houses completely destroyed
- 2 993 houses are in danger to collapse
- 18 563 houses are affected
- 323 628 hectare agricultural land affected

14 000 persons have been evacuated during the floods most of whom have already returned to their villages.

The observations of the Caritas assessment teams confirm this official information. In the villages, Caritas teams have visited hundreds of damaged houses. Most of the family houses are built by unburned mud bricks which are destroyed when getting in contact with water.

Even families whose houses have not been destroyed lost most of their belongings (furniture, food already stored in the houses for winter, animals). The majority of people living in the affected areas are farmers living from what their land and animals produce. This year’s harvest is destroyed, most animals lost (and even if they could save animals they have nothing to feed them). Others are working by the day doing occasional jobs also in agriculture.

Many people returned to their villages living now in their destroyed houses or even on the street (people do not want to stay somewhere else since they are afraid that their remaining belongings will be stolen). They try to save what still can be saved from their belongings and to clean their houses (it they are still existing).

3) Relief efforts

During the floods state authorities and institutions (army, fire brigades) tried to save as many people as possible from the flooded regions using boats and helicopters. Later, state institutions started to distribute food and drinking water.

The Romanian army started to assist people in cleaning their houses (or the places where their houses have been). Several villages that cannot be reached by road any more are supplied by army helicopters with food and other important materials.

Health authorities started a campaign to vaccinate the population in the affected areas against Typhoid and Hepatitis. The authorities also removed thousands of dead animals to avoid epidemics.

The Government declared that its first priority is to repair damaged infrastructure (more than 1000 km roads, bridges, water supply systems, electricity systems, railway, etc.).

All relief efforts should be coordinated by crises committees on local and county level. Until now this coordination seems not to work very well.

Besides the Red Cross which is present in most affected villages, a number of other organisations and companies try to assist the population affected by the floods by directly distributing relief items. Our experience from the floods of the Banat region tells us that this kind of support will last only for a short period.

4) First activities from Caritas

An assessment team of the diocesan Caritas of Iasi started to visit the affected regions already on the second day of the floods.

The national emergency office of Caritas Romania started to coordinate the activities and got in contact to several partner organizations. A report about the situation has also been transmitted to Caritas Internationalis. Several organisations from the Caritas network already responded and provided funds for the first period of emergency relief.

Starting on July 15^th, Caritas started to distribute essential relief items in the most affected villages and towns, first in Bacau county (Helgiu, Trotus valley), later also in Vrancea and Galati county.

During the first days, Caritas distributed food packages, personal hygienic items, blankets and rubber boots.

The distribution has been organised in teams of 6 to 10 persons who visited all the houses of the villages, talked to the people and handed over the relief items. By this Caritas tried to avoid that people are waiting in the centre of the villages for the next transport of relief items to arrive.

Until now more than 3000 persons have been supported by Caritas.

All activities are coordinated by the coordinator of the national emergency program of Confederatia Caritas Romania. The programs are implemented by the diocesan Caritas of Iasi.

The local activities are coordinated by Mihaela Condac, responsible of the diocesan emergency program.

Caritas Iasi set up three operational teams each responsible for one county. These teams are already in contact with the local administration of the affected villages, but also with Catholic and orthodox parishes, assuring a better coordination and a better understanding of the actual situation.

At present, Caritas is preparing two medical teams of nurses (working in the home health care programme of Caritas Iasi) who will visit some of the most affected villages. The nurses will go from house to house, helping elderly people who need special care, provide medicine (which does not need prescription from a doctor) and organize access to professional medical care for those in need.

Caritas will also provide special relief packages for families with babies and very small children.

Two teams of social workers from Caritas Iasi will start to carry out an family assessment in Vadu Rosca (Vrancea county) and several small villages in the Trotus valley in Bacau county. They will visit all families, doing interviews and collecting information of the social situation of the families and the existing needs. This information will be useful for developing further programs and identifying target groups.

5) Caritas programme for long term relief and rehabilitation

Together with Caritas Iasi, Caritas Romania plans to implement the following three programme components to assist the flood affected population. Some of the activities will continue programmes that have already been started during the first days after the flood.

A.     Material support for the winter period

B.     Rehabilitation of small-scale agricultural activities

C.    Rehabilitation of houses

Target groups of the programmes:

Programme components 1 and 2 will support a total number of 2 000 persons (about 800 families).

About 50% of the beneficiaries will be from Bacau county (small villages in the Trotus valley), the rest from Vrancea county (mainly Vadu Rosca).

As mentioned above, Caritas social workers will visit all families in the mentioned regions to collect information. Families included in the programmes will be selected using the following criteria:

·        priority for elderly persons without younger family members living with them

·        families with several children

·        families without additional income (for example a family member working abroad)

For the reconstruction programme 100 families whose houses are completely destroyed and 100 families whose houses have been damaged will be selected.

Caritas Romania is already in contact with the Romanian Red Cross and World Vision Romania, the two most important organisations working in the field. All activities will be coordinated so that no beneficiaries will be included in similar programmes at the same moment.

A. Material support for the winter period

Justification:

Thousands of persons lost all their belongings including houses, furniture etc. Most of these people are living from agriculture and occasional jobs in agriculture. The harvest for this year has been destroyed, many animals died (only very few families had insurances for their houses and for agriculture) so that these people will not have an regular income and the necessary resources to provide all necessary goods for the winter period.

There will be need of supplementary food (especially to improve the quality of the food available) and of personal hygienic items (also due to the difficult hygienic situation in the flood affected regions – authorities are afraid of epidemics).

Another urgent need will be for heating material (fire wood), since in the affected period winter is cold and long.

Objective of the component:

Supply of 2 000 persons (800 families) for a period of 7 month with essential supplies (food, hygienic items, fire wood) in order to ensure survival in human dignity during the winter period.

Expected results:

·        2 000 persons to have sufficient food for a well balanced nutrition for 7 month: every person receives a package with food on a monthly basis (7 packages per person).

·        2 000 persons to have all necessary items for their personal hygiene: during the 7 month period every person receives three packages with personal hygienic items.

·        800 families (2 000 persons) to have 6 cubic meters of fire wood.

Activities:

1.      Selection of beneficiaries: the selection will be done by Caritas social workers using the information of the family assessment.

2.      Procurement of the packages and fire wood: Several companies will be invited to submit written offers, the most advantageous (concerning price and quality) will be selected. The packages will include the following goods:

Food	Hygienic items
meat cans bean cans liver paste (can) chocolate cookies rice sugar oil corn semolina canned cheese noodles	soap shampoo washing powder disinfectant towel tooth brush tooth paste sanitary towels (packages for women) razors (packages for men)

The company will deliver ready made packages.
The fire wood will be provided from local companies close to the affected villages in order to keep transportation costs low.
Caritas decided to distribute packages with food and with hygienic items for individual persons and not for families. Thus, there will be no discussions about the need of smaller or larger families.

3.      Transportation of the relief items: the packages and the fire wood will be transported by a company (Caritas will ask at least three companies for offers).

4.      Distribution: distribution will be done by workers of Caritas and volunteers. All packages will be handed over personally, the beneficiaries will sign in lists to confirm.
Food packages will be distributed for a period of 7 month with one distribution per month.
Hygienic packages will be distributed for three times in the 7 month period.
Fire wood will be distributed before the beginning of the cold season (end of October).

5.      Midterm evaluation: after three month Caritas social workers will talk to the beneficiaries (using questionnaires) to evaluate the impact of the distribution. Depending on the results the goods included in the packages may be changed. It is also possible that a number of beneficiaries will be exchanged.

6.      Final evaluation: Like in the midterm evaluation interviews with beneficiaries will help to understand the impact of the distribution.

 B. Rehabilitation of small scale agriculture

Justification:

Small-scale agriculture has been one of the major activities of the population in the areas now affected by floods. Rehabilitation of this kind of activities means a return to the usual life style. With a relatively small amount of money the supply of essential food for a family can be improved for the long term.

It is also important that the families will not become depending on long term food aid.

Objective:

Rehabilitation of the capacity of 800 families to contribute to the self-supply with food through agricultural activities (gardening and growing of chicken).

Expected Results:

·        800 families have got the necessary tools and materials (fertilizer, seeds)  to start their own vegetable garden.

·        800 families produce their own vegetables starting from spring 2006

·        800 families grow their own chicken (20 animals per family) to produce meat and eggs.

Activities:

1.      Selection of beneficiaries: The selection will be done by Caritas social workers using the information of the family assessment.

2.      Signing of a convention between the selected families and Caritas. In this convention Caritas declares to support the families in their gardening activities and the growing of chicken. The families declare that they will not sell the materials and animals they receive and that they will create all necessary conditions (chicken-coop). Therefore, Caritas social workers will organize meetings with the families. During these meetings, a Caritas specialist in agriculture will explain the programme to the people.

3.      Procurement of the necessary goods for gardening (using a standard method with three offers). Every family will receive one sack of fertilizer, a set of tools (shovel, hoe, rake) and a set of vegetable seeds. There will be two different sets of seeds, one for the mountainous region in Bacau county and another one for the flatlands of Vrancea. A Caritas specialist in agriculture (Caritas is running a farm) will be responsible for the composition of the sets.

4.      Distribution of the materials by Caritas staff and volunteers. If necessary, the specialist will inform the people what they have to do to start with agriculture on land that has been flooded (for example how to use the fertilizer). The distribution will start in February so that there will be enough time to prepare everything for spring.

5.      Procurement of chicken and chicken food: every family will get 10 chicken for egg production and 10 for meat. Caritas will buy chicken in the age of 2 weeks (still quite cheap but not that sensible any more). Caritas will also buy chicken food for a period of several weeks (until people start to produce their own food for animals): one sack of 25 kg of food for each chicken.

6.      Distribution of chicken and food by Caritas staff and volunteers. Only those families who have prepared the conditions as mentioned in the convention will receive chicken and food The specialist in agriculture will assist the families where necessary.

7.      Monitoring and assistance for the families by the specialist in agriculture who will visit the villages on a regular basis.

8.      Final evaluation: interviews by social workers and report of specialist.

C. Rehabilitation of houses

Justification:

About 3 500 houses have been destroyed by the floods, thousands of houses are damaged. Most of the affected people do not have the necessary resources to repair their houses or to build new ones.

Another challenge will be the reconstruction of whole villages at a new place since the former placement is in danger to be flooded again (i.e. Vadu Rosca).

Although the government promised to support people in rebuilding their houses, we are not convinced that the authorities will have the necessary financial and logistic resources. During the floods in April, about 1.000 houses in the Banat region have been destroyed, and the government promised that, until winter, all houses in the region will be reconstructed. Now, at the end of July, work started only on a very small number of houses. There is also a certain number of families who lost their houses and are not included in the government programme. This makes us believe that the government will not succeed to provide houses for all families affected by the recent floods.

In addition to Caritas Romania there are two other organisations that plan to build and repair houses: World Vision and the orthodox church. Caritas will try to cooperate and coordinate its efforts with these institutions, but also with the state authorities.

Objective:

Provision of human living conditions for 200 families by building 100 new houses and repairing 100 damaged houses.

Expected Results:

·        Until September 2006, 100 families whose houses have been destroyed by the floods will have a new house in accordance with all legal and technical standards.

·        Until September 2006, 100 families whose houses have been damaged will live in repaired houses which are not any more a danger for their lives (by collapsing) or health (i.e. because of high humidity and mould).

Activities:

1.        Identification of beneficiaries: there will be three sets of criteria:

     Social: priority for elderly persons, families with many children, families without or             low income, families with a sick or disabled member. The selection will be done by         a Caritas social worker.

           Technical: new houses will be built in cases in which it is impossible to repair the             house or if too expensive. Houses will be repaired if the reparation does not cost          more than 50% of the price of a new house and if a technical long term solution is          possible. The selection will be done by a specialist in construction employed by   Caritas.

            Coordination: the house is not proposed to be repaired or rebuilt by another        organisation.

Repair of houses:

2.        Companies specialized in engineering (probably two companies, one for Bacau county, another one for Vrancea) will provide an individual solution for each house, stating what and how it has to be done, which materials are needed and which works can be done by the people themselves and what has to be done by specialists (only in certain cases – elderly people living alone – everything has to be done by a company).

3.        Selection of a company (from at least three offers) for the work that has to be done by specialists.

4.        Signing of a convention with all beneficiaries stating exactly which work has to be done by the beneficiary.

5.        Repairing the house. The engineering companies and the Caritas specialist in construction will be responsible for monitoring but also for consulting with the beneficiaries who are doing the work by themselves.

6.        Final evaluation: done by the engineering company and the Caritas specialist.

Construction of new houses:

7.        Selection of project: in the Banat region the government provided a number of technical projects for new houses. All organisations building houses used these projects which did not need any further endorsement. Using these projects and an individual assessment of the capacity of every family (which work they can do by themselves, i.e. digging the foundation) the company will elaborate the documentation for the call for tenders for works and materials.

      Caritas intends to build houses that are not completely finished (but with windows and      

      doors). Only one room will be finished and the families will receive the necessary

      materials to finish the other rooms.

8.        Selection of construction companies and provider of materials (materials used by construction companies will be provided by themselves).

9.        Signing of an individual contract with each beneficiary stating which work has to be done by themselves.

10.   Construction of the houses as stated in the documentation (done by beneficiaries and companies). The work will be monitored by the engineering company and the Caritas specialist. The specialists will also consult the beneficiaries about how to do the part of the work they have to do by themselves.

11.   Final evaluation: commission of Caritas staff and engineering company.

6) Timeframe

Sep.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

Mai

Jun.

Jul.

Aug.

Sep.

Distribution food

Distribution igienic items

Distribution fire wood

Distribution seeds

Distribution chicken

Preparation repair

Repair

Preparation construction

Construction

7) Resources

For the implementation of the proposed programme, the following resources are necessary:

a) Human:

·        Coordinator national emergency programme

·        Programme coordinator Caritas Iasi

·        Programme assistant

·        Accountant

·        Specialist logistics

·        2 Specialists in construction

·        Specialist in agriculture

·        2 social workers

·        volunteers for distribution

Key personnel (coordinator, assistant, social workers) are available in Caritas Iasi. Specialists that are not available in the staff of Caritas Iasi will be employed for the programme.

b) Material:

·        Transport: vehicles for the transportation of personnel are available; transportation of materials will be subcontracted

·        Office and communication are available at the central office of Caritas Iasi

Experience of Caritas Romania and Caritas Iasi

Caritas Romania implemented several humanitarian aid and rehabilitation programmes after floods and other disasters during the last years. To be mentioned are the rehabilitation programmes after the floods in 2004 in several regions in the Carpatian mountains and a complex programme after the floods in the Banat region.

Caritas Iasi was partner in a rehabilitation programme after floods in the Carpatian mountains in 2004 where it implemented a project to repair damaged houses in several affected villages.

The coordinator of the emergency programme of Caritas Iasi (who will be in charge for this programme) participated at trainings about emergencies organized by Caritas Germany and Caritas Austria.

8) Reporting

Reports will be provided by the office of the national emergency programme every second month or on donors demand.

9) Budget (USD)

Description	Unit	Price/unit	Units/ distribution	Nr. of Distributions	Units total	Price total	Price per category
Items for distribution							322.080,00
Food	package	12,00	2.000	7	14.000	168.000,00
Hygienic items	package	18,00	2.000	3	6.000	108.000,00
Fire wood	cubicmeter	9,60	800	6	4.800	46.080,00
Rehabilitation of houses							3.338.400,00
Houses / new		24.000,00	100	1	100	2.400.000,00
Houses reparation		7.200,00	100	1	100	720.000,00
Planning						218.400,00
Rehabilitation agriculture							201.600,00
Seed packages	package	12,00	800	1	800	9.600,00
Fertilizer	sack	30,00	800	1	800	24.000,00
tool sets	sets	36,00	800	1	800	28.800,00
chicken	20 animals	24,00	800	1	800	19.200,00
chicken food	sack	30,00	4.000	1	4.000	120.000,00
Salaries							63.720,00
coordinator	month	720,00	1	12	12	8.640,00
assistant	month	600,00	1	12	12	7.200,00
accountant	month	600,00	1	12	12	7.200,00
Specialist logistics	month	600,00	1	12	12	7.200,00
specialist construction	month	720,00	2	12	24	17.280,00
specialist agriculture	month	600,00	1	3	3	1.800,00
social worker	month	600,00	2	12	24	14.400,00
Office equipment							2.880,00
Computer		1.200,00	1	1	1	1.200,00
Laptop		1.680,00	1	1	1	1.680,00
Transportation							51.000,00
Transport - food						16.800,00
Transport - hygienic						7.200,00
Transport fire wood						6.000,00
Transport seeds, fertilizer, tools						1.200,00
Transport chicken						600,00
Transport chicken food						1.200,00
Transport personnel						18.000,00
Total							3.979.680,00
Administration 7%							278.577,60
Diocese						159.187,20
CCR						119.390,40
Total							4.258.257,60