On 14 September 2024, the Neagu family’s life changed in an instant. At 4:20 a.m., their daughter woke them with a cry: “Wake up! There’s a flood!” Within minutes, water began pouring into their home, rising quickly.
There was no time to save the things they had built over a lifetime—their memories, treasured belongings and years of hard work. All they could save was each other—and the family’s two dogs.
After the disaster: Finding the strength to begin again When the floodwaters receded, they left behind damaged walls and empty rooms—the painful reminders of a loss that words could hardly describe. With five children, three of them still minors, Costică and Iuliana had no choice but to start over.
The first two weeks were the hardest. They slept in the hallway, the only part of the house that had escaped the worst of the flooding, on wooden pallets covered with insulation boards. And yet, in the midst of everything they had lost, they stayed together. That mattered more than anything else.
But the Neagu family’s story is not about loss. It is about courage, dignity and the strength to move forward when the right support is there.
The Neagu family is one of the families supported by Habitat for Humanity Romania following the devastating floods that struck Galați County in September 2024.
Guided by the Build Back Better principle, we committed to rebuilding their home to make it safer, stronger and more resilient. But rebuilding was about much more than construction materials and technical solutions. It was about people.
In June 2025, more than 30 volunteers came together at the Neagu family’s home with one shared purpose: to help rebuild hope. Among them were families previously supported by Habitat for Humanity Romania. They returned not only out of gratitude, but also with the desire to give back.
They were joined by local tradespeople from Cudalbi, Costache Negri, Cuza Vodă, Pechea and Slobozia Conachi, all taking part in a Habitat programme dedicated to safe and resilient reconstruction.
The rebuilding of the Neagu family’s home became a powerful symbol of solidarity.
