Storm floods Balkans, Serbia declares emergency

[knocker]

 

A massive storm has dumped record rainfalls on the Balkans, causing severe flooding, especially in Serbia, and parts of Croatia and Bosnia. Schools have been closed in Serbia, where several people have drowned.

 

Serbian declared a nationwide flood emergency on Thursday and asked the EU and Russia for help. Entire towns were cut off. The slow-moving cyclone is forecast to persist until the weekend.

 

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said his country was facing its "biggest water catastrophe in Serbia's history."

 

Meteorologists forecast that more than double Serbia's average rainfall for the whole of May was expected to fall within just two-and-a-half days until Friday noon.

 

http://www.dw.de/storm-floods-balkans-serbia-declares-emergency/a-17639326

 

A look at the upper-low over the Balkans responsible for record flooding, severe weather. pic.twitter.com/LH1JjX7bp1

 

 

[knocker]

Balkan floods threaten Serbia power plant on River Sava

 

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.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27459184

[knocker]

Toll mounts as thousands flee Balkan floods

 

Officials say disaster has killed at least 44 people and completely cut off some towns in Serbia and Bosnia.

 

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2014/05/toll-mounts-as-thousands-flee-balkan-floods-2014518193210842105.html

Edited May 19, 2014 by knocker

[knocker]

 

Torrential rains on May 14 - 15 in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina have caused extreme flooding that has killed at least 38 people, said Reuters today, with the death toll expected to rise once flooding recedes and areas cut off from help are reached. Extratropical Storm Yvette, a strong and slow-moving upper-level low pressure that cut off from the jet stream, lingered over the region for two days, pulling up copious amounts of moisture from the Mediterranean Sea and generating torrential rains. "In three days, as much rain fell as normally falls in three months," said Goran Mihajlovic, of Serbia's Meteorological Institute. "Statistically, such rainfall happens once in 100 years," he added. At least 500,000 of Bosnia's four million people have been evacuated or have left their homes. More than 100,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed, and more than one million people are without clean water. The floods have been unearthing land mines and bombs left over from the 1992 - 1995 war, one of which showed up in this man's garden, as seen at 1:25 into the video.The same high-amplitude jet stream pattern that contributed to the heavy rains over Bosnia and Serbia last week is now bringing record May heat to portions of Russia, Finland, and Estonia today. In St. Petersburg, Russia, the mercury climbed to at least 32.0°C (90°F) on Monday afternoon, beating the former May all-time record of 30.9°C set in 1958, according to weather records researcher Maximiliano Herrera.

 

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