Serbia battles floods, more than 7,600 evacuated

Serbia battles floods, more than 7,600 evacuated

BELGRADE -- More than 7,618 people have been evacuated in Serbia in the past two days as the country battles severe flooding, the Interior Ministry has announced.

The most critical situation is in the Kolubara, Mačva, Morava, Pomoravlje districts in western and central parts of the country. The MUP has said that 1,030 commercial and public buildings have been flooded, while another 1,435 are in danger.

The situation is the worst in the Belgrade municipality of Obrenovac, where at least one person is missing, and according to Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić, there are fears that there could be more victims.

Things were dramatic in Obrenovac on Thursday night, because the Kolubara broke the levee and flooded 90 percent of the city.

According to the Interior Ministry, more than 2,500 people have been evacuated from Obrenovac, and there are another 200 requests for evacuation. The situation is further complicated by the coming night, since the power in the city has been cut for safety reasons.

Vucic visited the area by boat on Friday and said the situation was catastrophic, and that the city would have to be evacuated completely.

The situation with the floods in Serbia is far worse than it seemed at first and could become even more difficult, Vucic pointed out. He called on the people to help build levees along the Sava River , which is posing a serious threat to the city of Šabac.

The situation in some of the municipalities that were under threat on Thursday has stabilized, but the ongoing rain has made things worse in a number of other locations in western Serbia since Thursday night.

Svilajnac and the village of...