BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA , MAY 19 -
Floodwaters triggered more than 3,000 landslides across the Balkans on
Sunday, laying waste to entire towns and villages and disturbing land
mines leftover from the region's 1990s war, along with warning signs
that marked the unexploded weapons.
The Balkans' worst flooding since record keeping began forced tens of
thousands of people from their homes and threatened to inundate Serbia's
main power plant, which supplies electricity to a third of the country
and most of the capital, Belgrade.
Authorities organized a frenzied helicopter airlift to get terrified
families to safety before the water swallowed up their homes. Many were
plucked from rooftops.
Floodwaters receded Sunday in some locations, laying bare the full
scale of the damage. Elsewhere, emergency management officials warned
that the water would keep rising into Sunday night.
"The situation is catastrophic," said Bosnia's refugee minister, Adil Osmanovic.
Three months' worth of rain fell on the region in three days, producing the worst floods since rainfall measurements began 120 years ago. At least two dozen people have died, with more casualties expected.
The rain caused an estimated 2,100 landslides that covered roads, homes
and whole villages throughout hilly Bosnia. Another 1,000 landslides
were reported in neighboring Serbia.
The cities of Orasje and Brcko in northeast Bosnia, where the Sava
River forms the natural border with Croatia, were in danger of being
overwhelmed. Officials in Brcko ordered six villages to be evacuated.
Rescuers urged people to go to the balconies or rooftops of their houses with bright fabric to make themselves visible.
Brcko Mayor Anto Domic said that unless the Bosnian Army is able to
reinforce from the air, the city will be flooded completely. He called
for the Defense Ministry to use helicopters to lower steel barriers that
could be backed by sandbags to contain the water.
"It is a very demanding task," he said, acknowledging that officials
would have no other way to protect the port city of more than 70,000.
Civil protection commander Fahrudin Solak said the Sava River was
spilling over another portion of the flood barrier in Orasje while
emergency workers tried desperately to reinforce it with sandbags.
In Serbia, where floods have inundated towns and villages, authorities braced for high water that could last for several more days.
Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said Sunday that 12 bodies have
been found so far in Obrenovac, site of the coal-fired Nikola Tesla
power plant, Serbia's biggest.
Parts of the plant and a nearby mine that provides its fuel were underwater.
Serbia's state power company, EPS, said crews were doing all they could
to prevent any further damage to the plant. Damage to the mine alone is
estimated at more than 100 million euros ($137 million).
Serbia's energy minister, Aleksandar Antic, appealed to people to
conserve power, calling the threat to the plant "very serious."
The floods
and landslides raised fears about the estimated 1 million land mines
planted during Bosnia's 1992-95 war. Nearly 120,000 of the unexploded
devices remain in more than 9,400 carefully marked minefields. But the
weather toppled warning signs and, in many cases, dislodged the mines
themselves.
Beyond the immediate danger to Bosnians, any loose mines could also
create an international problem if floodwaters carry the explosives
downstream. Experts warned that mines could travel through half of
southeast Europe or get stuck in the turbines of a hydroelectric dam.
From the air, the northeastern third of Bosnia resembled a huge muddy
lake, with houses, roads and rail lines submerged. Officials say about a
million people — more than a quarter of the country's population — live
in the worst-affected areas.
The hillside village of Horozovina, close to the northeastern town of
Tuzla, was practically split in two by a landslide that swallowed eight
houses. More than 100 other houses were under threat from the restless
earth. Residents told stories of narrow escapes from injury or death.
"I am homeless. I have nothing left, not even a toothpick," Mesan
Ikanovic said. "I ran out of the house barefoot, carrying children in my
arms."
Ikanovic said 10 minutes separated him and his family from likely
death. He carried his 7-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son to safety.
He said he had secured a mortgage and moved in only last year. "Now I
have nothing," he said. "Where will I go now? Where will we live?"
Semid Ivilic's house in the lower part of the village was still
standing. But looking up at the mass of earth and rubble that engulfed
his neighbors' homes, he said he was worried.
"Nobody is coming to help us," he said.
The final person to evacuate a village near Brcko said he had lost everything he valued.
"I was the last one to leave," said 72-year-old Anto Zuparic. "I left
everything behind, my cattle and everything else. I do not know what to
do. I am glad I won't live much longer anyway."
More than 10,000 people have already been rescued from the town of
Bijeljina in northeast Bosnia. Trucks, buses and private cars were
heading north with volunteers and tons of aid collected by people in
cities outside the disaster zone.
The Bosnian Army said it had 1,500 troops helping on the ground. But
many bridges have been washed away, leaving communities dependent on
airlifts.
Helicopters from the European Union, Slovenia and Croatia were also aiding rescue efforts.
Large parts of eastern Croatia were underwater too, with several
villages cut off and hundreds still fleeing the flooded zone in boats
and trucks. Refugees were being housed in sports halls and schools, and
aid centers were set up to distribute medicine, food, blankets and
clothing.
In Serbia, more than 20,000 people have been forced from their homes
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