Hocevar: “Give us a helping hand”” “

An unprecedented disaster. Cities and towns underwater, victims in every village, and the death tolls continue to rise. Overflowing rivers, flooded homes, blocked roads and bridges, flooded fields. It is the dramatic picture of the situation in Serbia hit by the heaviest rainfalls of the past 120 years that have literally put the Balkan country underwater. There are already over twenty victims, while in neighbouring Bosnia-Herzegovina, also severely affected by the flooding, the thirty people have died. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes: there could be between 100 and 200 thousand uninhabitable houses. In Serbia there are at least 25 thousand displaced people, more than 20 thousand in Bosnia and Herzegovina and 15 thousand in the east of Croatia. Figures are expected to rise in the coming days as in some areas along with the roads also communication was cut off as a result of the flood. Stop the river flood. “The situation is at risk, especially in some areas where the river Sava could be interrupted, involving many cities and towns”, Darko Tot, national Caritas director in Serbia, told SIR Europe on Monday May 19. He added: “At present, millions of bags of sand are placed on the river banks and public security forces are on guard day and night”. In Belgrade the full wave of the Sava was expected to arrive in a few hours’ time. In other places the water is slowly receding, leaving mud, landslides and dead animals. Yet people still cannot return to their homes because of the high risk of infections and epidemics. Without food in Valjevo. For the time being, the two power plants which supply a large amount of electricity in the country – “Nikola Tesla” on the Sava and “Kostolac” on the Danube, which over the past days risked being flooded by the high water levels of the two rivers – now appear to be out of danger. “We did all we could – said Djina Trisovic from the Tesla plant -. Now we’re in God’s hands”. The “Tesla” plant is near the city of Obrenovac, some 30 km from Belgrade, the most severely hit area, almost entirely flooded. In the city of Valjevo, the Kolubara River burst its banks and flooded central areas, but the situation is now under control. Rade Ljubicic, from the local Caritas, said that “during the weekend people were overcome by panic because stores had sold out all food products and the roads leading to the city were flooded”. “We were isolated for two days”. Caritas in the front line. “The government and dedicated bodies along with Caritas acted immediately”, the Archbishop of Belgrade, Msgr. Stanislav Hocevar, told SIR. Caritas “set up a national Caritas “set up a national committee for the coordination of the various emergency and relief operations” focusing on five of the most hardly hit areas: Valjevo, Krupanj, Ub, Sabac and Obrenovac. Thousands of food parcels were handed out over the past days, along with personal hygiene items, clothing and blankets, and forage for those animals that have survived. “For farmers to be able to save the rest of their livestock is crucial – said Msgr. Hocevar – if they were to lose it, now that all the fields are flooded, they would be left with nothing”. “Our workers are also helping the volunteers on the dams and displaced persons by distributing meals and hot drinks”, added Darko Totha. Ongoing relief. Fund collection began today in all the structures of the Catholic Church in Serbia, which also includes the collection of clothing, food, blankets and food for animals. The appeal of the Archbishop of Belgrade is addressed “to all those who can give a helping hand. It’s the worst flooding on record in the history of Serbia”. He added that “we won’t manage alone. We have limited resources”. Help from abroad will be sought. Darko Tot said that in the next days “we intend to provide more stable support to help people return to their normal lives. Building works, furniture and many more items will be needed”. The Pope’s solidarity. Also the Pope in the recitation of the Regina Coeli on Sunday expressed his solidarity with the Balkan populations hit by the floods, conveying his “closeness to those who are living moments of anguish and adversity”. “It was a beautiful gesture of solidarity and prayer towards us. We are deeply grateful to the Holy Father”, said Msgr. Hocevar. “We don’t feel lonely in this tragedy”. For the time being, the weather has given Serbia some respite. When the water levels will start to decrease, flooded fields, flooded homes, and factories will come to the fore. “Before this calamity these already were already poor, and the local population lived on farming and livestock”, said Hocevar, who asked: “How will they manage now that the water has swept everything away?”