CARE staff in Bosnia: “This is a disaster. I can hardly believe what I see”
May 21, 2014 - One of the worst floods in the history of the Balkans has left devastating damage in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Serbia and parts of Croatia. According to the European Commission’s Humanitarian Office (ECHO), over 45 people have died. In Serbia alone, 30,000 people have been evacuated. Some towns and villages are completely flooded and there were at least 2,000 landslides registered in Bosnia. Many communities are cut off from electricity and running water. Reports indicate shortages of food, water and medical supplies.
Bosnian CARE staff Saša Petkovic travelled to Doboj early this week and saw devastating scenes of destruction: “This is a disaster. I can hardly believe what I see. There are hundreds of families that live on upper floors now locked in their houses surrounded by water masses.”
In Serbia, while the rains have stopped and water levels of major rivers are dropping, the worst is not over: “The Danube is rising and this might cause other rivers like Sava, Mlava and Kolubara to rise again”, worries CARE staffer Vesna Jovanović.
CARE has already started distributing water pumps to affected communities in Bosnia and will scale up its distributions of relief items over the next days. Today, in the Serbian capital of Belgrade, CARE will provide relief to families evacuated from the nearby town of Obrenovac which was completely flooded. “We will distribute baby milk to families who need urgent support now and hope to provide more relief items over the next days”, says Vesna Jovanović from CARE’s office in Serbia.
The needs, however, remain enormous. Sumka Bučan, Regional Director for the Balkans, expects that the CARE teams will have support the communities for many more months and thus calls for financial support: “We have seen a lot of generous support especially from other European nations and appreciate the solidarity. However, with a destruction of this scale, we are looking at a long recovery phase. The communities that CARE works with in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Serbia have already been poor before this disaster. Now they need to rebuild their lives from scratch.”
CARE’s emergency response in the Balkans can be supported with a donation:
- 15 Euros can buy a hygiene package
- 69 Euros provide a food package for a family
- 175 Euros purchase a water pump to clean houses
About CARE: Founded in 1945, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE has more than six decades of experience helping people prepare for disasters, providing lifesaving assistance when a crisis hits, and helping communities recover after the emergency has passed. CARE places special focus on women and children, who are often disproportionately affected by disasters. CARE has been working in the Balkans since 1993, placing a special focus on working alongside marginalized groups such as Roma and empowering women to receive education, health and earn an income.