Worst recorded floods in 120 years: “Everything was lost in a second”
Over the past few days, heavy rainfall has caused massive floods and landslides in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as in Serbia. The floods are said to be the worst in 120 years and have brought enormous destruction and suffering in a region that is still recovering from many years of civil war and that suffers from chronic poverty. According to latest news reports, at least 35 people have died but more casualties are expected.
The floods have left roads blocked, electricity cut off and houses completely submerged in water or swept away. Several bridges have been destroyed and some regions are completely cut off from help. In Bosnia, at least 2,000 landslides were registered according to media sources. These landslides have also triggered a severe risk of injury or death from land mines left from the Balkan wars in the 1990s. The landslides swept away many of the carefully placed warning signs around the minefields.
CARE staffer Sevko Bajic reports from Bosnia: “I visited a partner organization in Bijelna when the floods occurred. Rivers have flooded over, streets are under water. I saw the fear in people’s eyes when I passed them on the streets. Have you been hurt, I asked.. ‘No, but we have lost everything. What will become of us? No one will help us’, they replied desperately.”
Bajic was a witness to desperate scenes: “In Skender Vakuf I could hardly get through on a road and literally a second after my car has passed, a gigantic landslide came down and destroyed houses and the road. From one second to the next, everything was lost. In Travnik, I saw homes lost in water. I reached home but my heart was filled with sadness. This is first time in my life – and I lived in Sarajevo during the war – for me to see people lose their hope so quickly.”
In a region already considered one of the poorest in Europe, these floods mean that many communities have lost everything: their houses, their livestock and crops. CARE staffer Naida Kudusic was travelling from Srebrenica to Sarajevo when she was a witness to the floods: “Near Potočari people were in panic. They gathered everything they could carry; they pulled sand into bags and put them around their homes to save at least something. Even whole greenhouses were being carried by the water. The road was gradually transforming into a small river, with many landslides and stones the size of basketballs and fallen trees that blocked the roads. With each person I encountered, I noticed the horror in their face and the agony”, says Kudusic
Even now that the rains have weakened, access continues to be a problem. CARE is coordinating with its partner organizations in Serbia as well as in Bosnia and Herzegovina and will provide emergency relief in the communities we are present in. A first distribution of water pumps, shovels and boots is planned to support the communities recover from the worst damage.
CARE in the Balkans: CARE International has been working in the Balkans since 1993. After providing humanitarian aid for victims of war and refugees, CARE now seeks to help build sustainable peace and development in the region. Programs support economic activities on regional levels, peace and reconciliation efforts, integration of minorities and the creation of opportunities for young people. CARE places special focus on working alongside poor girls and women because, equipped with the proper resources, they have the power to help lift whole families and entire communities out of poverty.