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Powerful storm hits Romania, one person killed

By Reuters Reuters
Workers watch as rainwater is pumped out of a flooded railway underpass in northern Bucharest, Romania, July 1, 2026. Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS
Workers watch as rainwater is pumped out of a flooded railway underpass in northern Bucharest, Romania, July 1, 2026. Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS INQUAM PHOTOS/Octav Ganea Reuters

BUCHAREST - A powerful storm tore through the Romanian capital Bucharest and 20 counties on Wednesday, killing one person and damaging dozens of homes and vehicles, emergency services officials said.

In Bucharest alone, nearly 2,000 calls for help were reported, emergency services told broadcaster Digi24. Several metro stations were flooded.

Outside the capital, the storm wrought damage in 60 towns and villages. One person was killed when a tree fell on their vehicle.

Police and firefighters were deployed across several counties, evacuating flooded homes and clearing debris.

The storm was preceded by a heat wave, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in parts of the country on Monday and Tuesday, boosting power consumption and raising electricity prices.

(Reporting by Luiza Ilie and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Aidan Lewis)

A worker watches as rainwater is pumped out of a flooded railway underpass in northern Bucharest, Romania, July 1, 2026. Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS
A worker watches as rainwater is pumped out of a flooded railway underpass in northern Bucharest, Romania, July 1, 2026. Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS INQUAM PHOTOS/Octav Ganea Reuters
An uprooted tree following heavy gusts of wind during a strong storm in northern Bucharest, Romania, July 1, 2026. Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS
An uprooted tree following heavy gusts of wind during a strong storm in northern Bucharest, Romania, July 1, 2026. Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS INQUAM PHOTOS/Octav Ganea Reuters
An uprooted tree following heavy gusts of wind during a strong storm in northern Bucharest, Romania, July 1, 2026. Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS
An uprooted tree following heavy gusts of wind during a strong storm in northern Bucharest, Romania, July 1, 2026. Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS INQUAM PHOTOS/Octav Ganea Reuters
A car is stranded in the middle of a flooded railway underpass in northern Bucharest, Romania, July 1, 2026. Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS
A car is stranded in the middle of a flooded railway underpass in northern Bucharest, Romania, July 1, 2026. Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS INQUAM PHOTOS/Octav Ganea Reuters

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published July 1, 2026 at 5:24 AM.

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