Opposition members said Kornélia Radics and her deputy Gyula Horváth were fired due to an incorrect weather forecast. As a result, the large fireworks show at the end of the national holiday in honor of the first Hungarian king Stephen (975-1038) went wrong on Saturday evening.
The meteorologists warned that severe weather had to be expected in the evenings on August 20. The chance of storms and heavy showers in Budapest was estimated at 75 to 80 percent. With that prospect, the authorities decided to put the flares away again. Bad luck for the inhabitants of the capital and the OMSZ, because the weather remained good.
It sparked a storm of criticism in the pro-government media for spreading false information and led to Monday’s Ax Day. The cancellation of the fireworks commemorated St. Stephens Day of 2006. Then very turbulent weather caused chaos and panic. Five people were killed and more than 300 others were injured. Since that year, the weather forecast has been decisive in decision-making.
