Storm in a Teacup?
According to the latest information from the Hungarian National Sailing Association it wasn't a large boat that overturning in the storm on Sunday, but a speedboat. Overall they can't currently put a figure on how much damage was caused when 7 or 8 boats collided in the turbulance, or if they did collide.
It seems the news of boats being capsized on the Danube are mildly exaggerated. No big boats sank, but cutlery was dropped, plates spilled, glasses flew in the air and awnings ripped on a number of the river's floating restaurants like the Columbus and the Spoon.
If you want pictures of the chaos caused by the storm there is a really good set published by the cloneshit (hu) blog over on flickr. And the whole thing is a big talking point here.
This morning people are picking through the detritus and working out what it all means. On the National Holiday right at the appointed hour for the firework display as everyone (1-1.5 million) was gathered along the Danube the skies opened, a gail force wind appeared from nowhere, the heavy rain quicky turned to pelting hail... Someone was sending a message. Just not any of the politicians or meteriologists, who according to all reports all knew what was coming, but still put everyone in danger.
This morning, despite the corrections to the initially exagerated news the death toll stands at 3 with hundreds injured. The toll of the injured that were carried or crawled to the hospitals is pretty depressing. Of the 287 so far reported injured, 44 are serious. They are still searching for two missing people in the Danube. Estimated damage is about half a billion forints (you do the math).
In very late breaking news it's good to see that the Guardian in the UK is keeping up its unrivaled record for cheesy, out-of-date and cliched stories about Hungary. They have only just covered the Hungarian Tourist Board's cartoon affair 'scandal'. Better late than never, hey? To be fair they did manage to contain their journalistic tourette's, so never mentioned goulash in the piece - now that is great editorial self control. British readers can look forward to a story about last night's events sometime in November.
So, your Hungarian word for today is 'tömegszerencsétlenség' or 'mass-misfortune' (also, stampede, bloodbath or 'collective disaster/badluck' depending on the situation) - as in "példátlan tömegszerencsétlenség" or 'unparalleled mass-misfortune'. A pretty neat summary of the event, but let's hope you don't have to use it too often.
