Floods threaten settlements,claim lives,evacuation underway

BELGRADE - The Serbian government declared a state of emergency due to flashing floods caused by heavy rain throughout the country on Thursday.

The decision was made at the request by the Republic Emergency Management Headquarters, who said this is the biggest natural disaster caused by rain in Serbia's history.

The floods threaten settlements, and have claimed first lives. Two people lost their lives in the floods, one in Umcari near Belgrade and the other drowned in the Danube River near Novi Sad. According to a statement from the Serbian Interior Ministry, one woman drowned in Umcari in Belgrade’s municipality of Grocka after failing to act on an advice by the authorities to leave her house.

One person in Lajkovac, western Serbia, and a firefighter in Topola, central Serbia, who disappeared beneath the water during a rescue operation in the river Jasenica, are listed as missing, Tanjug learnt at the Emergency Situations Sector of the Serbian Interior Ministry (MUP).

Emergency Situations Sector chief Predrag Maric said today that the situation is the most dramatic in western Serbia, where more than 500 people were evacuated during the night.

People are being evacuated to schools, military barracks and their relatives' homes, Maric told Tanjug, adding that the situation is changing by the hour.

Around 100,000 homes in Serbia are left without power and teams are on the ground to solve the problem, said Energy Minister Aleksandar Antic.

Evacuation of livestock and people is underway in the areas of Valjevo, Cacak, Kosjeric, Loznica, Uzice and Pozega.

The situation is critical in the territory of Cacak, as the Cemernica River burst its banks and flooded hundreds of homes, leaving...