When three months’ worth of rain fell in a matter of days in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, it caused rivers to swell and burst their banks, and the floodwaters swept away bridges, roads and homes. At least 65 people died in the disaster last month.
Between the heavy rains and flooding and the landslides these produced, hundreds of thousands of people fled their homes. Many others remain trapped in towns and villages that are cut off from main roads. They lack clean drinking water, food, medicine and electric power.
The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is working with implementing partners International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) and Global Medic to provide survivors in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina with emergency relief.
With funds from UMCOR, IOCC will focus on small but heavily impacted communities in Serbia. One of these, Krupanj (pop. 5,000), was almost completely submerged when four local rivers overflowed their banks and then provoked dozens of landslides. IOCC will clean and disinfect 200 homes, repair 100 homes and community buildings, and distribute health and hygiene kits to 250 families.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, where 1.5 million people have been affected by the disaster and 950,000 were forced to flee, UMCOR will work with Global Medic to distribute 450,000 water-purification tablets, install six institutional water-purification units, and provide 160 families with kitchen replacement materials to help “restore some sense of normalcy to their day-to-day.”
Check out more on this story and others from the June 4 UMCOR hotline.