More storms expected today in Hungary, says PM Orbán – UPDATED: disaster management announcement

Weather forecasts show more storms coming on Tuesday and Wednesday, but “we can breathe a sigh of relief by the weekend. Let’s look after each other,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Facebook on Tuesday.

In a video posted after a visit to the emergency transport centre of national railway and coach company MÁV-Volán, Orbán said: “It’s mostly young people who work here; they are enthusiastic and dedicated.” The prime minister expressed thanks to all the workers for their persistent efforts to keep the railways operational despite the weather disruptions.

“The fact that they managed to improve the situation a lot last night was mainly thanks to their dedication,” Orbán said. “We thanked them for the work but I can tell that the tasks are not yet over, because forecasts show that storms can be expected even tonight, especially on the Pecs-Budapest line, then on the way towards Szolnok, that can cause difficulties.”

He added that he was certain the outcome would not depend on the people working in the centre. “They also direct the buses from here that can be used to rescue people stuck on trains, so they can be transported to their destination. This is the centre and heart of rescue operations in times of emergency,” he said.

Orbán said the forecasts showed difficulties for Tuesday and Wednesday but afterwards the situation is expected to become easier.

MVM restores power to 173,000 customers after storm

MVM has restored power to 173,000 customers after a storm on Monday, the state-owned energy group said on social media on Tuesday. MVM is working to restore power to the remaining 17,000 customers affected by the storm that brought 100km/h winds.