Floods

Bosnia: Emergency Declared After Floods, Landslides Kill 21

Published OCT 5 2024

Story

Above: People look at a car running along a flooded street on Oct. 4, 2024 in Kiseljak, about twenty kilometers west of Sarajevo. Image credit: ELVIS BARUKCIC/Contributor/AFP via Getty Images

The Facts

Torrential rain in Bosnia and Herzegovina has caused severe flooding and landslides, resulting in at least 21 deaths in the central and southern regions of the country.
Al Jazeera
EuroNews
Some areas in the municipality of Jablanica, located approximately 43 miles southwest of Sarajevo, have been completely cut off due to the destruction of road and railway links.
Al Jazeera
Reuters
Bosnia's inter-ethnic presidency has requested military assistance for the affected areas, while engineers, rescue units, and helicopters have been deployed to aid in evacuation efforts.
guardian
As the death toll is expected to rise, a state of emergency has been declared to expedite search and rescue operations.
BBC News
Al Jazeera
Neighboring countries Croatia and Montenegro have also witnessed heavy rains and flooding. However, apart from infrastructural damage, no casualties have been reported.
Sky News
The Associated Press
The recent floods follow an unprecedented summer drought that affected agriculture and water supply throughout the Balkans and most of Europe, with scientists attributing these weather changes to climate change.
ap
Reuters

Sources Split

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The Spin

Narrative A

This is the worst flooding Bosnia has seen since at least 2014, with the scale of destruction comparable to the aftermath of the 1992-1995 war. The situation is disastrous, and the search for missing persons is the top priority. The government has rightly declared a state of natural disaster and is allocating funds for recovery efforts.

Arab News

Narrative B

While the immediate focus is on rescue operations, the long-term implications of climate change can't be ignored. The recent drought dried out the land, hampering its ability to absorb floodwaters. Human-caused climate change increases rainfall intensity as warm air holds more moisture, leading to more extreme weather events.

Dw.Com