2014 Southeast Europe floods

Meteorological history

On 13 May, a low-pressure area formed over the Adriatic Sea, as polar air from Central Europe penetrated into the Mediterranean basin. The cold polar air mass met with humid subtropical air, leading to very low pressure. On 14 May, the low moved over the Balkans, becoming stationary. As a result, extremely heavy rain fell within the region; Serbia (in the area around Belgrade) and Bosnia were most affected. Serbian and Bosnian meteorologists named the formed cyclone "Tamara". On 15 May, the daily amounts of rainfall broke historical records in Belgrade (107.9 mm), Valjevo (108.2 mm) and Loznica (110 mm). By 15 May, the monthly rainfall in Belgrade had broken the historical record (175 l from 1897), reaching 205 l. By Saturday, May 17, the rain had subsided, and the weather gradually became warmer and sunnier, somewhat easing relief and rescue efforts. On 18 May, the cyclone moved further northwest.

The main flooding region was the watershed of the Sava river, which forms a border between Bosnia and Croatia, flows into Serbia, and drains into the Danube in Belgrade. On Wednesday, 14 May, heavy rainfall caused torrential floods across mountainous regions, which destroyed bridges and infrastructure, and caused numerous landslides. The deadliest impact occurred on Thursday, 15 May, when water levels in several right-bank tributaries of the Sava suddenly and uncontrollably rose at an unprecedented rate, flooding towns in their valleys. The Bosna river in central Bosnia completely flooded the cities of Doboj, Maglaj, Zavidovići and Šamac, while the Kolubara, near Belgrade, did the same to Obrenovac; those cities had the major share of victims. Subsequently, the Sava itself rose to record-high levels, threatening the cities of Slavonski Brod, Šabac and Sremska Mitrovica and numerous villages, but the damage was relatively contained as the population, helped by army and volunteers, strengthened flood defenses. Nonetheless, embankments gave way in several places.

Heavy rainfall was also experienced in the region on 3 and 4 May, affecting Romania, Italy and Bosnia. The event produced limited damage but left a number of flooding incidents and high rivers. A state of emergency was declared in parts of Bosnia by local government.

Affected regions

Serbia was the most severely affected, with several major cities in its central region completely flooded, and landslides in mountainous regions. Bosnia, in particular its Republika Srpska entity, was also inundated to a crippling extent. Eastern Croatia and southern Romania also experienced flooding and human victims, while Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Slovakia were affected by the storm.

Serbia

The city of Obrenovac was hit hardest by the floods, with an estimated 90% of the town flooded. During the night between 15 and 16 May, nearby Kolubara river, collecting waters from southerly mountains, suddenly rose several meters above its banks and flooded the city, catching the residents by surprise. The entire city was evacuated. During 18 May, the water level dropped, which enabled the evacuation of the citizens of Obrenovac to be carried out by trucks instead of boats. As of 20 May the total number of evacuated persons exceeded 30,000.

In Krupanj in western Serbia (located in a valley of several small rivers) torrents, mudslides and landslides devastated the infrastructure and destroyed dozens of houses. Because of road damages, the town was completely inaccessible for three days, and the road to Loznica was blocked until 18 May. Electric power was cut for almost the whole municipality. Around 500 houses were seriously damaged and at least 20 houses are completely uninhabitable Part of the village of Rebelj in Valjevo municipality was annihilated by landslides. In the Drina river valley, on the border with Bosnia, heavy rain activated landslides, cutting off several villages and closing roads. At Mali Zvornik, a giant hill threatened to slide into the river and cut its flow, endangering that town and Zvornik across the river.

Peak flood waters from Sava river hit Šabac on 18 May, but the embankments survived, strengthened by efforts of the army and several thousands volunteers. Flood waters on the river reached 6.3 metres (21 ft), the highest on record, endangering Šabac and Sremska Mitrovica on the left bank. In anticipation of the floods, a 7.3-metre (24 ft) temporary embankment was erected.

Further east, along the valleys of Morava and Mlava rivers, city centers of Paraćin, Petrovac na Mlavi, Svilajnac and Smederevska Palanka were flooded.

During the flooding period, an estimated 300,000 households were left without electric power. Serbia's energy minister, Aleksandar Antić, has appealed to individuals to conserve power as best they can. The largest thermoelectric power plant in Serbia, TPP Nikola Tesla, which supplies close to 50% of electricity in Serbia, lies in the vicinity of Obrenovac, but was saved from danger. However, flood waters filled the largest coal field of RB Kolubara with 210 million cubic meters of water, more than the volume of Vlasina lake, and its pumping out is expected to take months. Further east, the thermoelectric power plant TPP Kostolac, which supplies 11% of electricity in Serbia, was threatened by floods from the Mlava river, but the water had not breached the innermost ring of defenses. During the floods, the hydro plants at Iron Gates reduced their production and opened the gates in order to lower the level of the Danube.

During the floods, transport across the country, particularly central and western parts, was interrupted or broken. 2,260 public, industrial and infrastructure facilities were flooded, and 3,500 roads were destroyed. The Belgrade–Bar railway was severed at several locations in western Serbia, and has been closed; basic reparations took about a month to complete, and afterwards the trains were forced to take a several-hours detour. Reconstruction of the section in the Gradac river canyon was finished in March 2015, allowing the trains to return to the original route.

Agricultural damage in affected areas was total, and the amount is yet to be determined. Thousands of cows, sheep, chicken and other domestic animals perished in the floods, and their corpses present a serious health risk for people who started returning and repairing their homes.

On 20 May, the Government of Serbia proclaimed 3 days of mourning. Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić described the flooding as "the worst natural catastrophe that has ever hit Serbia."

In a July 2014 report by the Government of Serbia, the total amount of damage in the country was estimated at 1.53 billion Euro. Of those, 810 million was attributed to direct damage, and 662 million to losses. Two thirds of the damage was attributed to the production sector (500 million direct and 569 million indirect), of which 228 million in the agricultural sector. Total damage on the housing was 227.3 million, while the infrastructure damage (transportation, communications and water management) was assessed at 192 million.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Most of northern Bosnia was flooded, with the Bosna river valley hit hardest. Other affected areas included Sarajevo Canton and Tuzla. Northern and northeastern Bosnia, including the region of Semberija, was also flooded. Rivers that flooded included the Bosna, Vrbas, Drina, Sana and Sava. A state of emergency was declared across the nation. Herzegovina in the south and central regions were not hit by floods.

The town of Maglaj experienced the average rainfall of two months in under 48 hours. In the city of Zavidovići, a footbridge was filmed being swept down the Bosna river and crashing into another bridge. In Sarajevo, the Miljacka river swelled almost to the level of city bridges. The entire hamlet of Parići in Hrasno Donje, municipality of Kalesija, was swept away by landslides.

As of 20 May, there were 24 confirmed deaths in Bosnia and Herzegovina: 17 in Republika Srpska and 7 in the Federation. At a press conference on 19 May, the Director of Police of Republika Srpska gave the names of 17 confirmed victims: 10 in Doboj, 2 in Šamac, 2 in Modriča and one each in Bijeljina, Vlasenica and Donji Žabar; an additional 7 persons are still listed as missing. Governments of the two entities jointly declared 20 May a day of mourning across the country.

It was speculated that the floodwaters might have disturbed land mines left over from the Bosnian War (1992–95) which could cause further danger if moved outside the marked areas.

The chief executive of Željeznice Republike Srpske, the railway operator in Republika Srpska (one of two railway operators in Bosnia) appealed for help in repairing the enormous damage to the railways in the country, stating that they were independently unable to repair the damage, appealing for help from the international community in supplying materials, mechanisation and financial assistance.

Croatia

Croatia was affected by the floods to a lesser extent than Serbia or Bosnia. The most critical area was in southern Slavonia. The embankment on the Sava River was breached near Rajevo Selo and Račinovci, and thus evacuation was ordered for Gunja, Rajevo Selo and Račinovci. As of 19 May, around 15,000 people in easternmost parts of Croatia were evacuated from their homes. One of the most critical points was the embankment of the Sava river in Slavonski Šamac, where the confluence of the Bosna and Sava is located. At that point the embankments were under severe pressure caused by the huge amount of water coming from Bosnia. Several officials stated that if this embankment were breached, the entire region of southern Slavonia, with a population of over 300 000, would be flooded. There were also floods in Banovina region, in the towns of Hrvatska Kostajnica and Dvor, mostly caused by the river Una, whose level had not been as high since 1955. Video: http://vimeo.com/96164094

Romania

This was the third major flood to hit Romania since late April 2014. Over 8,000 people were isolated and nearly 2,000 hectares of land were covered by water. 125 villages were affected by floods in one day. In total, 30 national and county roads were closed or partially destroyed by water and mud. The waters of the Danube rose so much that the authorities set orange code for flooding for eight days, on the sector Iron Gates–Zimnicea. In Vrancea County, a 50-year-old man was carried away by the flood and found dead the next morning. Bucharest was devastated by a storm accompanied by hail and strong winds. Several streets were flooded, trees were uprooted, and a thick layer of ice covered important transport arteries, paralyzing the traffic in the capital.

Slovakia

Floods and strong winds from the cyclone also reached Slovakia, where an elderly man drowned.

International response

Many countries and international organizations have offered to provide relief.

Celebrity response

Aftermath

Officials say it may take 5 years for agriculture in the affected regions to recover. The managing director of the Kolubara coal field stated that it would take one year for the Tamnava pit to be dredged and dried, while the Veliki Crljeni pit would take around two months to be operational again. He has stated that the Tamnava pit is now an artificial lake. The Kolubara coal fields are open pits from which coal is supplied to the TPP Nikola Tesla. There are enough stockpiles of coal at hand to bridge the period until the coal pits are fully operational, but the delivery system needs repairs.

The European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Kristalina Georgieva stated that Croatia and Serbia have the possibility to apply for aid from the European Union Solidarity Fund, up to one billion euro in one year, but this was later rescinded as a misstatement of the Commissioner. The EU Solidarity Fund in 2014 is 500 million euros, while individual countries can expect around 10 million. The aid can be transferred if the damage is assessed to be over 0.64% of the country's GDP. For Serbia, that would be around 175 million euros in damages. Bosnia, not being a candidate or member country of the EU, is not eligible for aid from this fund.

Serbia applied for the World Bank aid credit, amounting to a total of 227 million Euros.