Danube deluge engulfs Balkan states

BELGRADE - Serbia yesterday declared a state of emergency in several regions as the Danube and its tributaries reached their highest level for a century, causing major flooding across the Balkans.

Emergency crews and volunteers struggled to keep embankments from giving way in the north of the country and sandbagging continued along the banks of the Danube, Sava, Tisa and Tamis rivers.

Swollen by the spring snow melt and heavy rains, the Danube - Europe's second longest river - has reached record highs in Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria in the past few days, flooding towns, villages and farmland.

The Serbian capital, Belgrade, lying on the confluence of the Sava River and the Danube, has suffered its worst flooding in decades. Several major streets that run along the two rivers remain closed to traffic, paralysing many parts of the city.

More than 100 people have been evacuated from the large island of Ada Ciganlija in the Sava in Belgrade, the favourite resort of residents.

The city's mayor, Nenad Bogdanovic, said he expected the waters to peak today after surpassing their record highs.

Srdjan Jovanovic, head of the Belgrade flood defence team, said: "We have reinforced barriers which will resist the waves but the question is how long the water level will remain so high. That's what is worrying."

He appealed to citizens to avoid a popular recreation spot on the Sava, saying some young women had pierced sandbags with their high heels, increasing the danger of collapse.

"The danger is big, and water can break the top of the dikes. The whole recreation area would be flooded in only a few seconds," he said.

Serbia's Agriculture Minister, Ivana Dulic Markovic, said: "All that is left now is to trust in God that all will end well."

Hundreds of people have been evacuated to safety in the town of Smederevo, 40km east of Belgrade. Tent cities are being set up for continued evacuation in coming days.

"This is so sad, many of us will spend Easter in tents," said local resident Stojan Savic. The Orthodox Church marks Easter next Sunday.

In Romania, the Government ordered controlled flooding of thousands of hectares of farmland to stave off threats to communities along the Danube.

In north-western Bulgaria, the Danube flooded most of the industrial zone in the city of Vidin, with water levels soaring to 966cm at the weekend. An emergency tent camp for 1200 people was being set up just outside the city.

Some 40 per cent of the nearby Romanian port city of Nikopol was under water, threatening to flood the pumping station and cut off fresh water supplies. Hundreds of people have left the city.

Authorities in Romania also evacuated 600 people from several Danube communities. The river broke through several dikes in the southern counties.

In the city of Fetesti, hundreds of civil protection workers, soldiers and volunteers worked to beef up a dike.

Further up the Danube, in the town of Golubac at the border with Romania, the city centre is under water, including local train and bus stations, hotel and schools.

Despite heavy sand barricades, strong winds simply pushed large waves over them.

The giant dams that form part of the Djerdap hydropower system, shared by Serbia and Romania further down the Danube, were opened several days ago in an effort to ease the flooding upstream, but to little effect.

The flow of the Danube is running at about 16,000cu m per second, which is twice the normal level for April.

In some areas of Serbia the river is 4km wide, or double its normal size.

Cultivation is currently impossible on 200,000ha of arable land along the Danube, particularly in the northern province of Vojvodina where its tributaries, Tisa and Tamis, have risen to their historical peaks.

Experts say that both the unusually long-lasting rains and the melting of mountain snow in Central and Eastern Europe have caused the situation.

In neighbouring Romania, officials say the Danube has reached its highest level since 1895.

- INDEPENDENT