Deadly floods in the Balkans destroy properties and move mine fields!

Massive floods have hit both Serbia and Bosnia, as three months' worth of rain, fell in just three days, forcing about 24,000 people to evacuate their homes, triggering thousands of landslides, threatening a power plant and more importantly, affecting mine fields, abandoned in the area from the 1990s war. 

According to meteorologists, the heavy rainfalls produced the worst floods recorded in the last 120 years, affecting many areas and displacing over 24,000 people, according to the head of the sector for emergency situations at Serbia's Interior Ministry, Predrag Maric. As a result of the floods, over 40 people are estimated to have lost their lives and fears are expressed that the number will rise, as soon as the water starts to subside. The rising waters also threatened Serbia's main power plant, producing electricity for a third of the country and most of Belgrade. The floods have also triggered more than 3,000 of landslides in both Serbia and Bosnia, affecting entire villages and destroying the road network. 

There is also widespread concern and fears that the floods and landslides may have affected the mine fields which are left in the area, since the war in the 1990s. Until today, about 120,000 unexploded mines still remain in over 9,000 mine fields, which were - until the flooding - carefully marked. However, warning signs marking the above locations have been swept away and in many cases the mines themselves may have been displaced. According to the Red Cross  "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 issue has been also recognized by the Bosnian President Bakir Izetbegovic. Experts fear that this may become an international problem, in case the floodwaters carry the mines downstream through Southeast Europe or even affect hydroelectric dams if they get stuck in their turbines. 

With waters expected to rise more in the following days, it is still difficult to estimate the extent of damage. However it is certain that the agricultural sector, which is the spine of both Serbian and Bosnian economies, will be severely harmed.