Debrecen4U July 15, 2025

Debrecen may have its own storm warning system

László Papp also announced that they will purchase a device with which they can examine the static load-bearing capacity of the remaining trees.

“After last week’s storms, most of the restoration work was completed by the authorities, the disaster management, and the OPUS TITÁSZ staff with the assistance of the Hungarian Defence Forces,” Mayor László Papp said in response to a question from Médiacentrum Debrecen.

According to the mayor, the power supplier switched from emergency mode to normal mode on Friday evening, but there were minor errors, and there were places where power supply was temporarily restored earlier.

There may be another power outage in these areas (such was the case today in Lencztelep) when the temporary restoration is finalised.

In addition, the removal of broken tree branches and larger, fallen trees is also underway.

The mayor also spoke about the agreement between the municipality and the contractor providing public waste transportation services, according to which all green waste collected by the population will be transported without quantitative restrictions, placed in any type of bag, from today until Friday at everyone’s usual green waste transportation time. The municipality will ensure the removal of large branches, twigs, and trees that cannot be placed in bags between July 14 and July 25 with the help of contractors for park maintenance tasks.

Residents are asked to place larger branches, twigs, and trees that cannot be placed in bags in an orderly manner in front of the property. This will also be taken away by the municipality’s partner companies.

It was mentioned that the Debrecen municipality will help those affected by the storm if the damage to their property was caused by the fall or breakage of a tree or branch that is visibly sick or in poor condition.

Compensation can be requested from the municipality, via the e-mail address viharkar@ph.debrecen.hu, which was created for this purpose, if the tree causing the damage is located in public areas and, in addition to the natural dry conditions that occur, has some kind of disease and is visibly in poor condition. (You can read about the reporting process here.)

The mayor said that each report will be examined individually, and if the conditions are met, the municipality’s liability insurer will compensate for the damage.

László Papp emphasised that one must always be prepared for extraordinary situations.

“But you cannot prepare for storms as big as the ones that hit Debrecen with wind gusts of 130 kilometres per hour. We cannot strip or cut down trees to prevent them from falling. Of course, trees in places that could pose a danger to public areas must be examined,” he added.

He said that a device is being purchased that can assess the static load-bearing capacity of trees, and if a tree is sick, it will be cut down.

“Obviously, there is a huge contrast here. When there is no storm, no critical situation, everyone thinks that trees should not be touched, and we get criticised if the city cuts down a few trees. Last year, 3,200 cases of pruning and tree felling were carried out, but we will fulfill what we undertook; we will plant new ones in place of every tree cut down,” he explained.

László Papp also said that a city warning system will be developed that will be able to draw attention to the danger based on cell information.

Source:dehir.hu | Photo credit:Pixabay