Floods threaten Serbia power plant ..[ 4285 ]

Balkan floods threaten Serbia power plant on River Sava 

BBC.,  18 May 2014 Last updated at 04:27 GMT

The BBC's Guy Delauney says forecasters are warning that the River Sava is set to peak again in Serbia on Sunday evening

The worst floods in the Balkans for decades are threatening Serbia's main power plant, officials say.

The River Sava has burst its banks in many areas and water levels are expected to peak later on Sunday.

At least 20 people have died in Serbia and Bosnia-Hercegovina after a month's worth of rain fell in three days, and the death toll is expected to rise.
In Bosnia, landslides have buried houses and disturbed landmines laid during the war in the 1990s.
The floods are also affecting Croatia.

Analysis

Guy De Launey BBC News, Belgrade

The extreme weather in Bosnia is heaping danger upon misery. The floods are not just the worst in living memory - they are bringing a deadly reminder of the conflict of the 1990s back to the surface: Landmines. 
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There are still more than 100,000 landmines littering the Bosnian countryside, according to the country's Mine Action Centre. Almost two decades on from the end of the conflict, people are still killed and injured every year. 
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Casualty numbers have reduced over the years, thanks to demining efforts and the mapping of minefields. Local people know the danger areas - and the safe paths. 
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But the torrential rain, floods and landslides are likely to cause the mines to move. Warning signs have already been washed away in a number of places. 
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When the floods finally recede, there will be an urgent need for the deminers to move in. 
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In Serbia, thousands of residents in Obrenovac were moved to safety after much of the town was inundated.

The town, south-west of the capital Belgrade, is home to the Nikola Tesla power plant, which supplies much of the country.
Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that his government's primary concern was to protect the power plant.
"We are doing all we can," he said.
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Thousands of volunteers have responded to the government's appeal to build up flood defences along the Sava.
Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic also appealed for help.
"Support for everyone! Let's help those in danger! Join the aid action!'' he wrote on his Twitter account.
Officials have refused to give a death toll for Obrenovac until the floodwaters recede. 
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Almost one-third of Bosnia is under water. The north-east is worst affected, with houses, roads and railway lines submerged.
Bosnian Serb police chief Gojko Vasic said the situation had been particularly difficult in Doboj "because the flood waters acted as a tsunami, three to four metres high", the Reuters news agency reported.
"No-one could have resisted," he said.
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Authorities have warned that the number of fatalities across the Balkans could rise as thousands of homes remain without electricity or drinking water and scores - like this man - are evacuated

 

Almost one-third of Bosnia is under water - from the air the north-eastern corner of the country resembles a huge muddy lake

 

In Serbia the floodwaters have been described as similar to a tsunami, three to four metres high in places

 

The flooding has also caused considerable infrastructure damage throughout the Balkans

 'Horrible catastrophe' Bosnian Security Ministry spokesman Admir Malagic said that about one million people - more than a quarter of the country's population - live in the affected area.
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Chairman of the Bosnian three-man presidency Bakir Izetbegovic said that his country is facing a "horrible catastrophe", the Associated Press reported.
"We are still not fully aware of actual dimensions of the catastrophe," he said.