Monday, May 19th 2014

Officials said that a quarter of the population has been affected by the devastating floods as areas of northern Bosnia remained under water and thousands more people were evacuated.

“More than a million people are without water, around a quarter of the population has been endangered by this catastrophe,” Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdija said on Monday.

Some 100,000 houses have been damages across the country, he added.
It is still unclear how many have died in the worst flooding to hit the country in more than a century, but unofficial estimates have suggested that there have been around 30 fatalities.

Most perished in unexpected flash floods and sudden landslides caused by rivers bursting their banks, marooning towns and destroying homes. “There have been over 2,000 landslides,” Lagumdija said.

Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes since the floods first hit.
Despite the floods easing in some of the places that were worst-hit in recent days, such as Bijeljina, Doboj, Maglaj and Olovo, reports from northern Bosnia said that people there were still trying to hold back flooding by building improvised defences out of sandbags.

The towns of Odzak and Brcko were cut off and people were being evacuated, reports said.

Officials expressed continuing concern for people’s health and security.

“More than a million people are without water, around a quarter of the population has been endangered by this catastrophe,” Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdija said on Monday.

Some 100,000 houses have been damages across the country, he added.

It is still unclear how many have died in the worst flooding to hit the country in more than a century, but unofficial estimates have suggested that there have been around 30 fatalities.

Most perished in unexpected flash floods and sudden landslides caused by rivers bursting their banks, marooning towns and destroying homes. “There have been over 2,000 landslides,” Lagumdija said.

Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes since the floods first hit.

Despite the floods easing in some of the places that were worst-hit in recent days, such as Bijeljina, Doboj, Maglaj and Olovo, reports from northern Bosnia said that people there were still trying to hold back flooding by building improvised defences out of sandbags.

The towns of Odzak and Brcko were cut off and people were being evacuated, reports said.

The floods and landslides raised concerns that thousands of mines still buried from the 1992-95 war in Bosnia could have been shifted by the water and mud, littering the country with unmarked potentially explosive devices.

The Bosnian Mine Action Center warned that mines could have floated even as far as the Black Sea after being carried downstream through the Sava to the Danube and then out to sea.

Officials continued to express concern about people’s health and security.

“The health situation after the floods can be marked as unsure, with a tendency to get worse,” said the Federation entity Health Care Minister, Rusmir Mesihovic.

The Federation entity civil protection headquarters meanwhile said that corpses of animals washed up as the floods receded would be destroyed to prevent any outbreak of disease.

People across the country have mobilised to help the victims in the flooded areas. Food, water, medicines and other emergency supplies are being collected and distributed to those most in need, while hundreds of students from Sarajevo have gone to Maglaj, Zavidovici and Doboj to help out.

Soldiers, police, members of civil protection crews and rafting clubs have been involved in efforts to rescue people and supply flooded areas with food, water and other necessities.

The damage so far is believed to amount to several billion euro.

Despite the fact that there is no official death toll so far, a day of mourning is due to be held on Tuesday.

The floods and landslides raised concerns that thousands of mines still buried from the 1992-95 war in Bosnia could have been shifted by the water and mud, littering the country with unmarked potentially explosive devices.

The Bosnian Mine Action Center warned that mines could have floated even as far as the Black Sea after being carried downstream through the Sava to the Danube and then out to sea.

The Federation entity civil protection headquarters meanwhile said that corpses of animals washed up as the floods receded would be destroyed to prevent any outbreak of disease.

People across the country have mobilised to help the victims in the flooded areas. Food, water, medicines and other emergency supplies are being collected and distributed to those most in need, while hundreds of students from Sarajevo have gone to Maglaj, Zavidovici and Doboj to help out.

Soldiers, police, members of civil protection crews and rafting clubs have been involved in efforts to rescue people and supply flooded areas with food, water and other necessities.

The damage so far is believed to amount to several billion euro.

Despite the fact that there is no official death toll so far, a day of mourning is due to be held on Tuesday./balkaninsight/

Etiketa: Bosnia Says One Million People Affected by Floods