Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




SHAKE AND BLOW
Toll mounts as thousands in Serbia, Bosnia flee historic floods
by Staff Writers
Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia (AFP) May 18, 2014


Belgrade braces for flooding after deadly rains
Belgrade (AFP) May 18, 2014 - Thousands of volunteers packed sandbags along the banks of Belgrade's Sava river overnight to brace for a "flooding wave" after the heaviest rains in more than a century, authorities said Sunday.

Mayor Sinia Mali said thanks to the defences, "Belgrade is ready for the flooding wave" predicted in the afternoon on the Sava, which joins the Danube in Belgrade.

The disaster has claimed at least 30 lives and forced thousands of people from their homes in Serbia and neighbouring Bosnia, where at least 20 people died in the northern town of Doboj alone.

Defences were meanwhile holding in the most threatened northwestern Serbian towns of Sabac and Sremska Mitrovica, upriver from Belgrade, according to Predrag Maric of Serbia's emergency services.

Humanitarian aid, technical equipment and teams from Russia, the European Union and neighbouring Montenegro and Macedonia were pouring in, authorities said.

The official death toll in Serbia stands at three but is expected to jump, as authorities said they were recovering bodies but were withholding figures until the waters recede completely.

In Bosnia, in addition to the Doboj dead, flooding claimed another seven lives elsewhere in the country.

Although the weather has cleared following the worst rains since records began in the late 19th century, the situation remained critical along the Sava river, which passes through northern Bosnia and western Serbia.

Rescue teams continued evacuations overnight both in Bosnia from the most endangered towns of Samac and Bjeljina, and in Serbia from the town of Obrenovac where the evacuation of all 20,000 inhabitants had been ordered.

Some 10,000 people have been evacuated in Bosnia so far, according to local media, and at least 20,000 in Serbia as of late Saturday.

Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic, in Rome where he has reached the final of the Rome Masters, on Saturday posted an appeal for "support and solidarity for my people in Serbia!" on his Facebook page, where he has more than four million followers.

Thousands crammed into boats and army trucks as they fled their homes in Serbia and Bosnia on Sunday after record rainfall turned the Sava river into a deadly torrent and caused the worst floods in more than a century.

Officials say the disaster has killed at least 44 people so far. Some towns have been completely cut off and rescue teams feared the worst as they were finally able to move in.

Some 10,000 people have been evacuated so far from the worst affected areas of northern Bosnia, but in some places like the town of Samac, hundreds of stranded people were still waiting to be rescued.

"We sent rescue teams into a part of the city we had not been able to access so far. They are entering those areas fearing what they might discover," Mayor Samo Minic told reporters.

Rescuers who arrived found widespread devastation.

"It looks like a tsunami and earthquake occurred at once. Water carries everything. Corpses of animals could be seen floating everywhere," said Nedeljko Brankovic, who was among rescue workers who managed to reach the village of Krupanj in western Serbia after two days.

"We found some 50 people gathered in the highest house. They had neither electricity nor drinking water. Telephones did not work. We evacuated them 10 by 10 in a huge boat," Brankovic said.

Besides the flooding, the worst rainfall since records began in the late 19th century also caused landslides that brought more destruction and also prompted a landmine warning.

Bosnia's demining agency said residents around the towns of Doboj, Maglaj and Olovo -- which saw fierce fighting during the war in the 1990s -- should be particularly wary of landmines that may have been dislodged by the floods.

Twenty of the 27 deaths recorded in Bosnia occurred in Doboj while on the other side of the Sava river, in Serbia, at least 16 bodies were found.

In "Obrenovac alone we recovered 12 corpses," Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said of the town 30 kilometres (18 miles) from Belgrade, bringing the toll in Serbia to 16.

"Unfortunately there are estimates that the death toll will be higher," he said.

Croatia has also confirmed one casualty, as a result of bad weather that engulfed much of central and parts of eastern Europe at the weekend.

Ukraine's emergencies ministry said heavy rain and wind had cut power to about 100 villages but no casualties had been reported.

- Once in 1,000 years -

In the Serbian capital Belgrade, dozens of schools and sport centres were turned into shelters for the thousands evacuated by boats, buses and helicopters.

In one sports hall, 73-year-old Vojislav Majstorovic recounted his family's escape from their house in the suburb of Obrenovac as water reached the first floor.

"The water was two metres high in less than an hour," he said. "We did not have time even to pack basic things. We just ran to the first floor and waved a white sheet to alert rescuers."

His wife Minka said they lost everything. "It has all gone. We had 20 pigs and 50 hens. I do not know if any of them survived. However, at least we are all alive," she told AFP.

Images on state-run RTS television from Obrenovac, showed half a dozen cows standing on the roof of a barn while rescuers threw them hay from a helicopter. A desperately barking dog stood on an overturned car was seen being picked up by rescuers in a boat.

In the southern Serbian village of Sremska Raca, buses were evacuating the entire population of 700, although not everyone was keen.

"Do not force me to leave, I beg you," 50-year-old Milorad said in tears as police tried to convince her to come with them.

Six men, in good humour with cans of beer in their hand, say they will brave the storm to ensure the clean-up gets going quickly.

"Someone should be here to the get to work immediately when the wave has passed," said Radenko Savic, 52. "They tell us the wave will be a metre high, but that doesn't scare us."

According to Serbia's prime minister, the biggest problem was still along the Sava river.

"An evacuation is under way in Sremska Raca. In other areas it's getting better," Vucic said.

"What happened to us happens once in a thousand years, not hundred but a thousand years," he said.

Humanitarian aid, technical equipment and teams from Russia, the European Union, the United States and neighbouring Montenegro and Macedonia were pouring in, authorities said.

Expressing his gratitude to all foreign countries for the aid, Vucic said Serbia now needed "food, baby food, diapers, all kind of clothes, medicaments, bottled water, disinfection and hygienic resources."

Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic, in Italy where he has reached the final of the Rome Masters, on Saturday posted an appeal for "support and solidarity for my people in Serbia!" on his Facebook page, where he has more than four million followers.

.


Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








SHAKE AND BLOW
Three dead in China rain storms: government
Beijing (AFP) May 12, 2014
Three people have been killed and thousands evacuated in several days of rainstorms in southern China, flooding major cities and affecting air and rail transport, authorities said Monday. Pictures showed widespread inundations in the boom town of Shenzhen, in Guangdong province, with the brown waters several inches deep. Cars were seen stranded in expanses of water, and pedestrians waded thr ... read more


SHAKE AND BLOW
LRO View of Earth

Saturn in opposition tonight, will appear next to the moon

Russia to begin Moon colonization in 2030

Astrobotic Partners With NASA To Develop Robotic Lunar Landing Capability

SHAKE AND BLOW
MAVEN Solar Wind Ion Analyzer Will Look at Key Player in Mars Atmosphere Loss

Against the current with lava flows

Opportunity In Search Of Aluminum-Hydroxyl Clays

NASA wants greenhouse on Mars by 2021

SHAKE AND BLOW
A light-speed voyage to the distant future

US spacecraft enters giant asteroid's orbit

Chris Hadfield's 'Space Oddity' video to be taken off YouTube

'Convergent' Research Solves Problems that Cross Disciplinary Boundaries

SHAKE AND BLOW
Moon rover Yutu comes closer to public

The Phantom Tiangong

New satellite launch center to conduct joint drill

China issues first assessment on space activities

SHAKE AND BLOW
Botanical Studies, Dragon Departure Preps for ISS Crew

NASA hopes to continue cooperation with Russia on ISS

Three astronauts land back on Earth in Soyuz capsule

Expedition 39 Trio Wrapping Up Six Months on Station

SHAKE AND BLOW
SpaceX supply capsule heads back to Earth

Replacing Russian-made rocket engines is not easy

Pre-launch processing begins for the O3b Networks satellites

US sanctions against Russia had no effect on International Launch Services

SHAKE AND BLOW
Giant telescope tackles orbit and size of exoplanet

Odd planet, so far from its star

New Exomoon Hunting Technique Could Find Solar System-like Moons

Length of Exoplanet Day Measured for First Time

SHAKE AND BLOW
Glasses-free 3-D projector

'Wolfenstein' videogame a Nazi-fighting adventure

Spiders spin possible solution to 'sticky' problems

Space junk problem discussed




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.