Disaster in the River Danube Basin

EU countries are these days helping Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina deal with severe flooding.

Roxana Vasile, 21.05.2014, 13:08

It’s been a week since the beginning of the catastrophic rain falls in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia — Herzegovina, where the situation is still unsettled. Over 1.5 million people have been affected by the most severe flooding to have hit the Balkans in 120 years. Dozens of people have died killed by water torrents and landslides. Authorities in all three countries are on maximum alert to address the damaging effects of the floods as much as possible. They are also worried about possible epidemics caused by the tons of animal carcasses lying everywhere.

In Bosnia alone, over 100 thousand people have been evacuated from their homes. It’s the gravest exodus since the 1992-1995 war in that country. Because of landslides, some 120 thousand unexploded mines from that war could be dislodged.

In Serbia, power plants must be protected. Also, over 80 thousand hectares of farmland are under the water. The fear of a potential rise of River Sava, which springs in Croatia to then flow into the Danube in Belgrade, mobilized everybody. With the help of thousands of volunteers, the dams were elevated with sand bags along 12 kilometers, to prevent the capital from being flooded too.

Romanians are on a state of alert themselves, as a high flood is expected to reach the Romanian sector of the Danube sometime at the end of the week, and hydrologists have already issued code red and yellow warnings for several counties. For now, specialists say that there is no risk for the water to go above the dams, but pressure is very high. That is why traffic along certain sections of the river has been restricted. So far, hundreds of hectares of farming land, grazing land and forests have been flooded.

Still, Romanians are mainly worried about their neighbors in the Balkans, and the Romanian Government has decided to help Serbia and Bosnia — Herzegovina with food, blankets, sleeping bags, sheets and drinking water, the total cost of the aid package standing at some 200 thousand Euros. A team of military firefighters has been sent on mission to Serbia to bring a shipment of water pumps, generators and boats. The Romanian Red Cross too has started a fund raising campaign. At local level, authorities and locals are doing their best to help their Serbian neighbors.