Autor: A. Ranitović
Picture by: Vladimir Trajanovski
Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia have been hit by the worst floods in the region's history, causing casualties, homelessness of hundreds of thousands people and billions of euros in infrastructure damage. Overflowing rivers have burst into towns and villages, entire towns have been flooded up to the roofs and some have ceased to exist.
#SupportSerbia Below is the town of Obrenovac, 22 miles from the centre of Serbian capital Belgrade. Along with tens of other towns in Serbia, it has been completely flooded. Altogether, the flooded area in Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia covers space the size of a country like Israel. Help Serbia by donating to the Flood relief Serbia Pay Pal Account at [email protected].
#SupportBosnia The rain caused more than 2,000 landslides in hilly Bosnia, officials say, enveloping roads, homes and whole villages. Danger also looms due to fears that the floods and landslides may have dislodged some of the the estimated one million land mines remaining buried. Bosnia needs your help! Donate to Red Cross Bosnia & Herzegovina here.
A view of the town of Doboj in Bosnia.
#SupportCroatia Croatia has also been hit heavily by rainfall. Below is the town of Gunj, once home to more than 3,000 people. Donate to Red Cross Croatia here.
#BalkanSOS Thousands have been left homeless. Sports centres, schools, factories, universities have been turned into evacuation centres for tens of thousands of evacuated people. Many people have also opened their own homes and taken families in.
#BalkanFloodsRelief The flooding has not only left thousands homeless, but has done lasting damage to the infrastructure of the Balkans. Preliminary flood damage estimates are around 1.3 billion euros in Bosnia alone, and 1.5 billion euros in Serbia.
But, with the floods also came a flood of solidarity.
Help is selflessly given. Thousands of volunteers came from all over Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia to help build sand barricades and dig canals to protect endangered towns. Others have been volunteering in evacuation centres or sorting out donated goods. Students of psychology have been providing psychological aid to those who have lost their homes or loved ones. Radio amateurs played a crucial role in coordinating rescue efforts. Actors have been staging plays for children in evacuation centres... Everyone is doing what they can.
Jumbo The story of the hero from Obrenovac, Slobodan Nedeljković "Jumbo" (25), touched the hearts of all in the region. Jumbo lost his wife and two-year old son in the floods, but has been helping rescue efforts tirelessly for days. He has rescued over 600 people, and hundreds of animals. Be a hero. Donate! You can do so to the Flood relief Serbia Pay Pal Account at [email protected], Red Cross Bosnia & Herzegovina - www.ckfbih.ba and Red Cross Croatia - www.hck.hr.
Coffee donations Coffee-shops all over the region have been giving coffee away free to customers who send a donation SMS to the fund for flood relief. In case you are in Bosnia now, send an SMS to 1458! In Serbia - 1003, Croatia - 060 90 11.
And lemonade donations... Others, like this girl from Kragujevac, have been helping by giving away fresh lemonade in return for a donation SMS. You can help out too - if you are in Romania, Switzerland, Norway, Sweeden, Denmark, Poland, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Germany or Austria, you can send an SMS to help. For numbers click here. Every little bit counts!
Najisipe! Support has been coming from the rich and the poor. One hundred families from a town near the city of Niš put the money received from social security benefits towards buying goods for those affected by the floods. They gathered over half a tonne of food, water, diapers and cleaning supplies. And all this is just the tip of the iceberg...
Xie xie! The box on the picture below reads: "For Serbia from the Chinese in Serbia". Shopkeepers from Belgrade China Town gathered over 1 billion dinars worth of goods, such as duvets, pillows, footwear and clothes. The gesture of a Chinese shopkeeper, Hai Hong, from Sremska Mitrovica humbled many - he was giving away free rubber boots to all who needed them.
Yes we can! Help has also been coming from all countries of the former Yugoslavia. Croatia opened an account to help Serbia, even though it has been faced with severe flooding on its own territory. Serbia has sent humanitarian aid to Bosnia. Montenegrins have sent hundreds of thousands of SMS donations. Macedonia and Slovenia have mobilized to collect water and supplies. Here is a message from Montenegrins:
Unite for children Thousands of children have been evacuated too. Teachers, actors, artist, animators and child psychologists have been volunteering in evacuation centres to cheer them up. Many kids from all over the region sent compassionate messages and their toys. The Novak Djokovic Foundation collects donations to help children affected by the floods. Donate here!
Save one life, save the world entire. Animals have suffered greatly due to the floods. However, thanks to the enthusiasm of individuals, civil society organisations and citizen initiatives, many have been rescued and some reunited with their owners. The Faculty of Veterinarian Science organised a fundraiser to collect animal food. The initiative #FeedtheDog created an app to help animals affected by the floods. Volunteers went into flooded areas to search for and rescue animals.
Where have you been all this time? This cow made headlines, after she was found to have managed to rescue herself.
And then she was fed!
Through thick and thin In the floods, some new friendships have been forged...
The protector of the barricades.
#StayPositive Throughout, people have tried their best to stay positive...even in very unusual situations! You can help keep up the positivity! Donate or spread the awareness using #balkanfloodrelief!
@DjokerNole Many celebrities have expressed their compassion with the victims of the Balkan floods. Novak Djokovic dedicated his victory over Rafael Nadal in Rome to Serbia and Bosnia, and donated the prize money - $500,000, to flood relief in both countries. His organisation, the Novak Djokovic Foundation, has so far also raised over $600,000! To donate to the Novak Djokovic Foundation, click here.
#BalkanSOS Kevin Spacey, Mark Knopfler, FC Real Madrid, Billy Idol, Angelina Jolie, Paulo Coelho and many, many others, have also shown their support by donating and spreading the word. Do the same! #BalkanFloods #BalkanFloodsRelief #BalkanSOS
Thank you! There have been many heroes on the internet too! According to data, over a million tweets about the floods have been sent in Serbia alone. News about the location of people in need of rescue, calls for and direction of volunteers, lists of goods needed for donation and real-time maps of collection points spread like lightening and supporting rescue operations. Thanks to the enthusiasm of many, numerous websites sprung up helping coordinate efforts. All these tweets helped save over 1500 lives!
Donate to the Flood relief Serbia Pay Pal Account at [email protected],
Red Cross Bosnia & Herzegovina - www.ckfbih.ba
and Red Cross Croatia - www.hck.hr.
