Croatia and BiH – Rain and Snowmelt Cause Landslides and Flooding

Rain and melting snow have caused flooding and landslides in Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina over the last few days.

Croatia

Croatia’s State Protection and Rescue Administration (Državna uprava za zaštitu i spašavanje – DUZS) reported on 13 March that a landslide in Hrvatska Kostajnica, Sisak-Moslavina County completely destroyed 6 houses and left several others severely damaged. No fatalities have been reported.

As of 13 March, several rivers were at red level warning stage (highest of five – green, blue, yellow, orange, red) including the Una in the town of Hrvatska Kostajnica near the location of the landslide, where streets and homes have been flooded.

Elsewhere in Croatia, the Korana river in Karlovac was at red level warning stage as of 13 March, standing at 7.81 metres.

Disaster officials said levels of the Sava River were cause for concern, in particular at Jasenovac where levels were at orange warning stage, standing as at 8.54 metres.

Army personnel are working to erect temporary flood defences and help residents to evacuate homes where necessary. Troops have been deployed to flooded areas of Sisak-Moslavina county, including Hrvatska Kostajnica but also Letovanić and Petrinja, where levels of the Kupa river are extremely high. Military personnel have also been deployed to affected areas in Karlovac County.

Croatia Red Cross teams are also operating in areas threatened by flooding, providing assistance to the residents of Hrvatska Kostajnica, Lekenik and Karlovac.

Rainfall is forecast to continue throughout the week and may increase over the weekend 17 to 18 March.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Flooding has been reported in northern areas of the country, where areas around Bihac and Bosanska Krupa saw flooding after the Una River overflowed. Levels of the river had increased by almost 30 cm in 24 hours from 12 March, 2018.

The Sana river has also overflowed, affecting areas around Sanski Most.

2014 Floods

In May 2014 the heaviest rainfall in more than a century hit Bosnia and Herzegovina, causing intense floods that affected 1 million people and destroyed infrastructure, businesses, livelihoods, farms and crops.

BosniaCroatia