Debrecen4U January 8, 2026

Snow plows worked all day in Debrecen

Code red has been issued in Hungary due to the snow situation; from Wednesday morning, all social institutions are obliged to admit homeless people who have gotten into trouble because of the weather. In Debrecen, overnight snowfall significantly hampered traffic in the city: in some places traffic moved only at a walking pace. The deputy head of the mayor’s office’s urban development department said that they are continuously monitoring the weather forecast and, based on this, issuing orders for the cleaning of roads and sidewalks.

Drivers of AKSD Kft. are on standby day and night. “We have a salting and spreading button that spins a propeller at the back and spreads the salt outward. If we also need to push the snow, then we have another system: you press the button and it lowers the blade into floating mode, and the blade will oscillate according to the ground so that it doesn’t catch on anything,” explained Róbert Váncza, a driver at AKSD Kft.

“We do not issue random orders to our contracted partners but continuously monitor the weather forecast across several fronts and platforms, where fairly accurate forecasts are available to us. Based on these, we issue orders for large-machine operations to AKSD, and for small-machine work—sidewalks and pedestrian crossings—to our contracted partners, Bazár Parking, Uniszol Zrt., and ITK Kft.,” said Tibor Schwartz, deputy head of the urban development department.

On an average day, staff of the county disaster management authority respond to rescue operations about eight times; as a result of the snowfall, this number has increased to twelve. “Firefighters in Hajdú-Bihar County are mostly alerted to minor accidents, and in quite a few cases they have had to respond to situations where cars slid into ditches or overturned into ditches, where assistance was needed,” highlighted Nóra Papp-Kunkli, spokesperson for the Hajdú-Bihar County Directorate of Disaster Management.

Staff of the Ecumenical Relief Organization are also on heightened alert due to the code red ordered yesterday morning. They are visiting one by one the locations in the city where homeless people live. The relief organization mainly takes care of people living on the outskirts of the city and in outlying farm areas, about 120 homeless people.

“Despite the road conditions, we are constantly on the move, and our vehicles are continuously equipped with basic supplies, including blankets, food, basic medicines, and warm clothing, and we try to help every person in our care and monitor their situation,” emphasized Tamás Figeczki, head of the Ecumenical Relief Organization’s center.

In the coming days, nighttime temperatures may drop as low as minus 15 degrees Celsius, so it is especially important to pay attention to our fellow human beings living on the streets. In Debrecen, the ReFoMix Nonprofit Public Benefit Ltd. is able to provide accommodation in homeless shelters for everyone without a home—no one has to remain in the cold—Deputy Mayor Diána Széles drew attention to this on her social media page.

Mayor László Papp also visited the warming center on Wesselényi Street. “It can happen that life takes such turns—a divorce, a bad decision, a bad economic decision, anything—that a person’s life derails somewhat, but there is always an opportunity,” he said.

Animals also require increased attention in extreme weather. Animal welfare associations take care of stray dogs and cats, and any help is welcome for them. In recent days, Deputy Mayor Lajos Barcsa delivered pet food to the Together for Animals Public Benefit Animal Welfare Association.

Source and photo credit: dehir.hu