Connecting cities Building successes

At the end of January 2014, Romania was struck by heavy snow falls, which paralysed the south of the country. In rural areas, as well as in Bucharest, the situation got a “bit out of control”, reports Ilinca-Adela Margineanu, the representative of the URBACT National Dissemination Point in Romania. Here are her impressions after the blizzard. 

Weather conditions have a different feel in the urban environment, so with the recent blizard, one could expect crisis situations to happen in the rural environment, where the weather is harsh and where people depend and rely on it for agriculture. In Romania, the  winter of 2013 made the headlines as the media reported on people blocked in their houses in the country side because of huge amounts of snow. There, the snow hit alarming cotes, with heights reaching to the houses rooftops. “Romania is under the snow”, “Trains canceled and delayed”, “Thousands of homes without electricity”, “Schools closed due to blizzards and snow!” they were writing.

Switching on “Code Red” was not Efficient Enough in Rural Areas

This winter authorities declared the “Code Red” in 13 counties. It means that it was forbidden to drive on public roads. The State Secretary for public order announced that more that 20 roads were closed. More than 150 people got caught in their cars, airports and ports were evacuated, and almost 70 villages remained without power because of the blizzard. Note that some rescue operations involved the Romanian army, and one of the armored trucks sent to the motorway also got stuck in the snow. On the motorway between Bucharest and the city of Constanta, there was a huge accident that involved more than 10 cars, some of them were totally damaged.

All this seems to suggest that the “code red” alert was not followed by adequate reaction of people, and I wonder: How is it possible that Romanians do not know how to react when authorities warn them in time that the blizzard is coming? Why do pregnant women remain in their houses in rural areas, instead of going to the hospital, if they already know that they are about to deliver a baby? How come Romanians do not get their cars fully equipped for winter when such a wrath is announced? Why does one feel the need to put one’s car on the road if there is zero visibility and one is aware that removing the snow from the road becomes practically impossible because of the blizzard?

But for rural areas there may be some positive sides to these heavy snow falls. If the snow falls remain high, weather specialists estimate that it will help protect and grow crops in the south of Romania, where we have always had problems in terms of soil moisture reserve; plus, the snow cover will protect them from freezing temperatures.

Bucharest: Snow and Civic Sense

The situation is slightly different in Bucharest. On the first day of the snowfall, stuck inside my house and bored, I was watching the news on TV about the rampage (there was not anything else to look at), when I saw a reporter ask a very old man, who was about to get in his car and drive his way in the city “Do you really want to drive on this weather, are you not scared?”. The old man shook his head, got comfortable on the driver’s seat and answered on a very calm tone: “No no, the car is good, it is fully equipped… everything is going to be just fine.”

On the second day of the blizzard I was proud because I managed to go outside and to remove all the snow from our parking spot. It was fun to see two of our neighbours – father and son – also digging their way to their cars. In fact, I admired the civic spirit of most of the citizens from the neighborhood, who cleaned as much as they could, so that onecould walk one’s way to the public transports.

The next day, I accepted the invitation of two friends to go out. I got dressed and tried to walk about 100 meters to reach them as they were waiting for me in their car. As I got closer, I realised that there was no way to walk through the snow. It had gone up of more than 50 centimeters in 24 hours!

All cars were covered in snow. I was thinking: “I am so happy this caught us during the weekend!”I do not know how I would have gone to work the next day with all this snow! On the Saturday, the authorities declared ‘code orange’ in Bucharest. On Monday, all schools were closed. Just one week before the intersemestrial vacation… one could only imagine the joy of the young ones!

Getting to work was a hard job… One could barely walk. The sidewalks were covered in snow, so one had to walk on the roads. The traffic was jammed, I literally saw mountains of snow. It was very hard to get inside the bus. And I was disappointed because I saw only two trucks with anti-snow equipment. After a few days I tried to get a cab to go visit a friend but I had to search for 40 minutes on my phone application to find one!

Until two weeks after the blizzard, some car owners refused to clean their cars and practically, a “fence” made out of snow made pedestrian circulation more difficult than it ever was.

I think it always comes easy to blame the authorities. I do not blame people who really have an emergency (such as medical emergency) or truck drivers who got stuck on the roads because it is their job to deliver goods, but I am upset with people who embezzle authorities resources when they expose themselves to danger they could have avoided. I also believe that public space should be taken care of, by the authorities and by citizens themselves. In such extreme situations, people must get out of their buildings, pick a shovel and “dig” in order to clear up the way for those who cannot do it themselves, the children and the elderly.

Where is the civic sense? It is February, and I still encounter difficulties when I walk outside. Needless to say, if temperatures drop below zero, the ground will freeze and the chance of falling and breaking one’s arm or leg will get higher… It is everyone’s responsibility to act fast and clear the snow-mountains off the street before we get “surprised” again.

Read More:

• Website of URBACT National Dissemination Point in Romania ( Romanian)
• January 2014 News reports from The Guardian, Euronews, BBC, France 24

By Ilinca-Adela Margineanu

Urban planner, representative of the  URBACT National Dissemination Point in Romania