miercuri, 30 iulie 2008

Very important!!!

Due to heavy floods which covered Maramures last weekend, Vaser Valley was washed away. The narrow gauge train line was destroyed. The steam engine train ("Mocanita") doesn't go up anymore.
In 26 of July, the floods destroyed kilometres of train rails. Many bridges were destroyed. At that time, on train were 192 people, which were blocked at Faina. They slept there, and at Bardau and Novicior forest camps, whithout clothes, food, medicins or any help from outside. There is no cell phone signal, nor other sorts of communications. Even radio stations were out.
Only the second evening (27 of July), the tourists received help from Police and Gendarmery (a team marched by foot, through the water, for 22 km to reach the camps).
Fortunately, all the tourists were alive, only a Belgium women was sick.
Part of tourists went down to Viseu de Sus by foot, and the others were evacuated by helicopters.
On the same time, on Vaser Valley died 4 people (three due to a landslide, and one teenager fell into the river.
In Viseu de Sus town is disaster. Many parts of the town are still isolated, without any acces and without electricity. The entire Vaser Valley is isolated.
Sighetu Marmatiei town is out of running water, since 27 of July (due to Tisa river floods, which destroyed the town's water plant.
The trains which link Sighetu Marmatiei to Cluj, Timisoara and Bucharest, can't reach the town (the rails were destroyed on several places). So, the trains go now only to Viseu de Jos station (which can be reached from Sighet only by bus or car.
The situation will become normally as follows:
-The Sighetu Marmatiei running water will come back in three weeks.
-The rail between Sighetu Marmatiei and Bucharest will become operational again, in several months.
-The "Mocanita" steam engine train, will restart, maybe, next year...