Floods in the Balkans, at least six dead

At least six people have died in the Balkans as a result of flooding caused by heavy rains. Northwestern Albania was particularly hard hit. Large areas of agricultural land are submerged under water and many houses are also flooded. The authorities have started the evacuations.

Heavy rains caused rivers to overflow, such as Albania’s longest river, the Drin. Yesterday 400 mm of rain fell in some places in 24 hours. By way of comparison: In the Netherlands, an average of more than 800 mm falls per year.

Water is everywhere, you can see in these pictures:

The bodies of two missing people were found in Boge, north of the Albanian capital Tirana. I am a father and son who got caught in water in their car. In the vicinity of the Albanian cities of Shkodër and Lezhë, at least 600 houses were flooded. “Shköder is cut off from the rest of the country,” says the mayor.

A total of four people have been killed by the water in Montenegro and parts of Serbia. A woman and her two children drove their car into a river. A 2-year-old boy drowned in a river in southern Serbia.

The authorities of the southern Serbian region of Raška have declared a state of emergency. The army has been deployed to help the local population with evacuations and relief supplies. More rain is expected in the coming days.

There are also reports of flooding from Kosovo. As far as is known, there were no casualties. There are damages here and there.