The toll could rise as relief supplies reach affected villages. At least fourteen people died in Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday, October 4, due to flooding. Heavy rain in the center of the country over the past 24 hours has caused flooding and large landslides, particularly in Jablanica, about 70 kilometers southwest of Sarajevo.
“So far we have found fourteen bodies in the Jablanica area. Unfortunately, there is a good chance that this will not be the final result.”Darko Jukan, government spokesman for this region located between central and southern Bosnia, told Agence France-Presse.
Jablanica, a town of 4,000 inhabitants located near the artificial lake of the same name, was especially affected. It has been isolated from the world since Friday morning, due to landslides that prevent access for any vehicle. In some photographs shared on social networks we can see the road cut off by mounds of mud and the city almost submerged. “At the moment we cannot enter or leave Jablanica”emergency services declared in the morning.
In Kiseljak, about twenty kilometers southwest of Sarajevo, several houses, cars and gardens are under water, journalists from Agence France-Presse reported. According to the Federal Civil Protection Administration, a large part of the population is in danger due to floods and landslides.
Firefighters, police and public services are mobilized, but additional help is needed to control the situation and mitigate the consequences of the storms and rainfall, Civil Protection stated this morning. According to the publication in X by an official of the Bosnian Croat Muslim entity, Nermin Niksic, “several neighbors are still trapped in their homes”.
In neighboring Croatia, authorities issued a red alert for flooding around the port of Rijeka, in Istria and in the center of the country. In a press release they warned that flooding could be expected in several locations, as well as power and water outages. With global warming, the atmosphere contains more and more water vapor, thus increasing the risk of heavy rainfall events.
