What's the weather where you are?

[Mayb]

Beside the politicians self advertisement and the questions who is guilty and for what , we can see the humainty all around us , from oridinary people. When you go t o shelter for example and bring them food or sanitary they say no we don't need it we are full please deliver it to other places where is more needed. And its really like that wherever you turn the head people organize in some way. They give their boats for rescuing , apartments for people with kids , shelter for animals. Twitter users share infirmations about the persons share informations about remain people in houses under water , forward instructions orgnanise volonteers for defeding the electric poverplant . Informing who increase the prices of food so that can be proceed... Volonteers not missing wherever they needed . Young boys even kids helping making defence . Girls in selters taking care of babies, kids old people . Taxi services do not charge transportation ketering services supply free food for people making defence on rivers.
There is a problems with organization here and there but he feedback from everybody and willing to help surprised us all . We surprised ourselves ..

That is very inspiring and beautiful, thanks for sharing Meri. :)

There is a sentence whic I notice on someones twitter wall today whic decribe it perfectly. ( explanation before i copy it -' Pink ' is commercial television which brodcasting the reports and direct program sice flood begins with no comercial brakes only news and report and valuable info about the situation. Its more them 60 hours of direct program, while the public television have almost same program as usual, with music, movies etc...)

So here is the quote :

,If Pink performs the function of public service, Twitter - information service and the companies and citizens fund for stockpiles reserves, why do we f...need the the state?,



"

 

[Persej]

She told me then since then she always have the bottle of water next to her bed.

Smart woman. ;)

That is another very important lesson. In disasters like that you need to be able to survive alone at least couple of days.

If Pink performs the function of public service, Twitter - information service and the companies and citizens fund for stockpiles reserves, why do we f...need the the state?

Good comment.

 

[Nević Nenad]

Dont forget, its always good to have some suplies in some backpack at hand. Cans, water, important documents and such.

I live partially (not all the time) in town of Smederevska Palanka (which Persej mentioned) since february. I left at tuesday so I dint saw myself how it was. But as people says, small artificial lake, which they have there and which is built for accumulating rain water and against the floods, has spilled over the dam.

For the illustration of amount of the rain which fell, I'm attaching picture (and I think that brings us on the topic)

1. image, lake in Smederevska Palanka (that blur in the middle is me). They maintain the same level as was on that image, but when the rain started it took only 4-5 hours to reach the level where I am standing (its the dam) and above it. Since I saw how terrain looks in the real, that is unbelievable amount of water.

2. I shot this one on the river Sava, in Belgrade, around 7pm. I drew red line to show where is the real river bank, and you can see how much water level raised in about just TWO DAYS. (usual it takes weeks for that).

3. Image of the both banks, to show how big it is. When take depth and width in account I would say that the river gained some 3/4 of original water volume. (it deeper than it looks on that image because of that red muddy water. Usually its greenish or bluish)

4. The other bank. You can see the sandbag wall on the left, which marks the line where we expect the water level to be in two days, when all the flood waters from Croatia, Bosnia, and Serbia reach Belgrade. It is necessary to say that for that amount/level of water, it usually needs months, not just 4-5 days

So, as the Cs said, it really was SHEETS OF RAIN :)

Images, 5,6,7, people on Belgrade's "Kalemegdan", walking, resting, discussing what level the river will reach. Younger group just finished building that sandbag wall you saw on the other pictures.

Numbers are not images names, I just gave them numbers in order as I was attaching them.

 

[Mari]

Hi,

I found this image; the flood looks like a lake in the middle ex Yugoslavia.

I'm from Northeast Croatia and not affected by the floods.

Finally, Croatian Red cross and other charity organizations managed to organize themselves; until yesterday people were organizing on local bases to collect food, water and other supplies for affected regions. :(

Good luck to you and write when you can!

Regards,
Mari

 

[Argo]

Hi,

I found this image; the flood looks like a lake in the middle ex Yugoslavia.

I'm from Northeast Croatia and not affected by the floods.

Finally, Croatian Red cross and other charity organizations managed to organize themselves; until yesterday people were organizing on local bases to collect food, water and other supplies for affected regions. :(

Good luck to you and write when you can!

Regards,
Mari

I think the situation is even worse than what the map shows.

It seems that, except northern province of Vojvodina, almost the all of Serbia suffered some form of floods, torrential wave and landslides. There are cases where a flood waves and landslides destroyed entire small villages. Dozens of bridges and roads were destroyed and damage to agriculture is immeasurable. This is a big disaster for Serbia, which is already a very poor country. :(

 

[Dirgni]

Please take care about landmines.

Epic flooding in Balkans raises fears about landmines surfacing
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/19/world/europe/balkans-flooding/index.html?hpt=ieu_c1
By Holly Yan and Kisa Mlela Santiago, CNN
May 19, 2014 -- Updated 1023 GMT (1823 HKT)

(CNN) -- As if the deadly flooding inundating much of the Balkans wasn't alarming enough, rescuers must now grapple with another concern: the risk of landmines from the Bosnian war resurfacing.

"A vast number of landslides have worsened the situation and relief efforts," the Red Cross said, describing the rains as the "worst floods in more than a century."

"There are reports that landmines buried during the conflict and not yet removed are in some instances being shifted with the landslides, adding (to) the dangers of people living in the areas as well as rescuers," the Red Cross said.

The mammoth flooding has already killed at least two dozen people in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Massive swaths of Croatia are also submerged.

Even though the intense rainfall is subsiding Monday, the disaster is far from over. CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri said flooding in the region will last at least another week -- and in some places, it could get worse.

The Serbian capital of Belgrade, for example, sits at the crux of the swollen Sava and Danube rivers. As water rushes downstream, the flood level in Belgrade is expected to rise through Thursday, Javaheri said.
...

 

[Mayb]

The size of flood is bigger then Israel teritorry as per Al jazzera Balkans. For us seems like 2014 will be zero year (.

avala in which part of the city you are? Im in Zemun next do Danube river and it grow fast ( . River Tamis start flow upgrade. That means that Belgrade will be surronded by water from every side?? And Danube is so high , how it can handle Sava now and all this water coming?

 

[Persej]

Please take care about landmines.

Yes, that is big problem in Bosnia. Who knows where they are now.

The Serbian capital of Belgrade, for example, sits at the crux of the swollen Sava and Danube rivers. As water rushes downstream, the flood level in Belgrade is expected to rise through Thursday, Javaheri said.

Yes, the very crux of the deluge. It's gonna be something. Our meteorologists now say that water level in Belgrade will rise till Friday.

 

[Persej]

Rajevo and Gunja in Croatia from air: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWCGtkSMabg
Horror scenes!

Šamac in Bosnia from air: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOs55otQ3hU

Obrenovac from air yesterday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbaAfCCpveQ

Obrenovac today: http://www.webtv.rs/play/67611/najnoviji-snimci-iz-obrenovca
http://www.webtv.rs/play/67613/delovi-obrenovca-i-dalje-pod-vodom

Landslide in Crno Blato: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v87IOZVO5EA

Novak Đokovic on BBC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pukASeMWBm8

 

[Dirgni]

RT has the number of dead at 44.

_http://rt.com/news/159772-balkans-flood-death-toll/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=aplication_chrome&utm_campaign=chrome

The Bayrische Rundfunk (Bavarian Broadcast) writes there are almost almost 50 dead flood victims (status today 9 PM).

The survivors will have 'a lot of fun' with the yellow-brown mud which stays when the water is away. Last years German flood survivor with property, which stood in the water, has to throw everything away. From some houses the walls and the roof could be saved. Others had to be rebuilt from scratch. But this was not such a huge flooded area.

For Bosnia, Serbia and the other affected regions this will be restart - year zero indeed.

 

[Argo]

I think it's interesting to see how the politics influence this tragedy.

Last week, at the beginning of the floods, PM of Serbia has sent a call for help. The first who was reacted was Russian federation , who almost immediately sent rescue teams of 76 people, 20 divers, 70 tons of food, a number of boats and the water pump and other equipment for emergency situations. For me, this is not surprising, for example, in the last 4-5 years, Serbia had a lot of summer wildfires, and our authorities simply could not handle it without help of Russian aviation. And there is more Russian aid to come, so they say.

More or less at the same time, help came from "fellow republics" and our neighbors: Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Hungary and Bulgaria.

Official EU said: Serbia can count on the help of European friends.

After that, our PM criticizes EU with with words: "If you want to help us, please send us a real help, if you do not want - it's good to know" (it is not his accurate words, it is my recollection and interpretation of the essence!)

After that, after 5 days of flooding, finally arrives aid from EU, and it's a lot of help, with the promise that Serbia can count on significant financial aid because it is a candidate for member of the EU. One gets the impression that the EU responded like that only because Russia has sent such a big help. At this point it seems that every news in the media about Russian aid to Serbia must immediately be followed with how much EU helped Serbia.

UA Emirates has gave Serbia a donation of $10 million.

Belarus is one of the countries that has most helped Serbia besides Russia. Belarus authorities even said that the whole of the Belarusian air force is ​​available to Serbia. (and that's why the whole political situation caught my attention)

And of course, I must not forget the glorious "US of A" who generously donated whole $100 000. Yeah, that sounds like a joke, but in the last 10 years, all that has to do with US sounds like a bad joke, and here in Serbia, we learned that in 1999.

 

[Persej]

I watched interview with two women who escaped from Obrenovac. One of them said that she heard no siren and the other one said that she had, but it was very silent and that she lived close to the location of that siren. Sounds like a serious mismanagement of crisis to me. So far 20 victims in Serbia officially.

The survivors will have 'a lot of fun' with the yellow-brown mud which stays when the water is away. Last years German flood survivor with property, which stood in the water, has to throw everything away. From some houses the walls and the roof could be saved. Others had to be rebuilt from scratch. But this was not such a huge flooded area.

Oh yes, I saw that today. About 30 cm of mud in the house! Horrible.

For Bosnia, Serbia and the other affected regions this will be restart - year zero indeed.

Yes. :/

 

[Persej]

Sava river broke dam in Zabrežje, near Obrenovac: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_QhycJgMTc
It is now expected that entire Obrenovac will be flooded so full evacuation is ordered.

These dams cannot sustain this much water for prolonged periodes of time so that's why they are cracking so much.

Im in Zemun next do Danube river and it grow fast

Danube in Zemun this evening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47KVWYjv4PU

Prognosis is that it will grow another 1 meter till Friday so it seems to me that Zemun will not be in danger. At least not this part. But other side of the river (Borča) might be in problem.

River Tamis start flow upgrade. That means that Belgrade will be surronded by water from every side??

I think that citizens of Pančevo should be worried of Tamiš, not Belgrade.

And Danube is so high , how it can handle Sava now and all this water coming?

It can't. And they say that it is already happening. Sava in Belgrade is growing.

 

[Nević Nenad]

@Argo

Russians were able to respond in such short time because of the base they have in the town of Nis, in south Serbia, or officially: Serbo-Russian humanitarian aid and critical situations center (some long phrase like that), which Shoigu opened in 2011. They fought summer wildfires throughout the Balkans from there in recent couple of years.

here: (I'm sorry because the text is sarcastic, which comes from the fact that the site is paid by the EU, but it is the only one in english I could find at the moment)

http://www.euractiv.com/enlargement/russia-opens-humanitarian-base-s-news-508382

@Meri

When in Belgrade, I am at Novi Beograd. I saw situation yesterday from Opservatorija tower (one of Belgrade's high spots) and it is already looking like Amazon.

@Dirgni

We are already familiar with the brown mud (it comes redish here), as one man who were unable to wash it from the outer walls ironically said in his helplessness "maybe I will keep it, and have the house in two colors" :)

 

[Toda22]

Have tried to comment on this article on SOTT
http://www.sott.net/article/279401-Balkans-floods-trigger-Bosnias-worst-exodus-since-war-deathtoll-rises-to-at-least-47
Login successful on main SOTT page but when I click on the article, I am not able to comment, do not know why?


Newspaper Oslobođenje from Sarajevo, 20.05.2014

One milion people without water, this catastrophe jeopardized ¼ of population, more then 2000 landslides, some of them where minefields are, 100000 houses and buildings are unusable; unusable are also 230 schools and health institutions. In Gračanica 25 factories are under water.