World Vision responds to worst winter "in six decades"

ROMANIA- Severe cold, snowfall and blizzards continue to cause widespread suffering and fatalities due to hypothermia with the latest seven victims dying outside their homes in the counties of Suceava, Bacau, Brasov, Gorj, Mehedinti and Mures*.  An estimated 33,000 people need immediate assistance.

World Vision has begun responding to some of the most vulnerable communities in Romania. Over the past two weeks, World Vision has provided emergency kits with food, blankets and shoes to 1,883 individuals, many of whom are children and vulnerable elderly members of communities where World Vision works.

Right now, impoverished families are having to choose between buying food or wood for heating due to ongoing economic hardship and lack of job opportunities. “If I had to choose between wood and food, we would choose wood; we would die without heating”, said Tiberiu, a father of five children in Camarasu commune, in northwest Romania, to a World Vision relief worker.

More than 225 communities across the country have been affected by the unprecedented cold and snow, which in some areas north of Bucharest stands four meters’ deep. More than 6,000 schools have been closed.

"We worry about our children as we face the situation with great difficulty..." 

“In Negresti, Vaslui County it snowed for four days in a row and now it has been spread by the blizzard. Temperatures started to drop down as soon as the snow stopped. The majority of the roads were blocked because of the powerful wind. Schools were shut down because children could not get there and the fuel was not enough to warm the classrooms. Many of the families we are working with rely on the children’s allowances as their sole income”, explains Marcela Butnaru, a social worker for World Vision. 

“We worry about our children as we face the situation with great difficulty. We hope the weather improves soon”, said one mother of five children from Sfircea village in Dolj county.

“Thank you with all our heart. It helps us a lot and gives us the trust that we are not alone”, said the same mother when she received blankets and food rations that will help to feed her family for one week.

Due to the ongoing snowfall and restricted access to many other isolated communities, World Vision Romania will expand its response from Buzau and Vrancea Counties.

The Romanian Internal Affairs Ministry began emergency interventions February 9 and the Romanian army is using helicopters to rescue people trapped under the snow, provide medical aid and deliver food.

World Vision Romania is fundraising on its national web page under the section ‘Apel de urgenta’ and through the national media in order to continue the response and ensure children in particular are cared for and protected.

*According to local news reports.