Flooding and landslides in Bosnia: 'The most difficult and terrifying night of their lives'

DW (English)

Late last week, Bosnia-Herzegovina was hit by torrential rain that caused deadly floods and landslides. As the flood waters subside, the cleanup has begun, and locals are surveying the damage.

Transcript

00:00There used to be ten houses here on the banks of the Sejončica river, but the recent floods

00:05have simply swept them away.

00:07The village of Buterović Polje is one of the areas in Bosnia-Herzegovina that was

00:11hardest hit by recent floods and landslides.

00:15Locals say that the night the floods struck was the most difficult and terrifying night

00:19of their lives.

00:21There was a catastrophe.

00:23There was a roar of water coming from the nearby hills, and the land shook.

00:30I can't imagine, I've been living here since 1956, I can't imagine that the terrain has changed.

00:37The terrain has changed completely.

00:40Look at this.

00:41The house is gone, it's like a boat.

00:44The house is like a boat.

00:46Nijaz Podanović says that the body of a man was found on Monday.

00:50His corpse had been carried three kilometres downstream by the water.

00:54Unprecedented rainfall struck central Bosnia-Herzegovina last week, causing flooding and landslides.

00:59Around 20 people have died and many are still missing.

01:03Many houses were damaged or destroyed.

01:07Rescue teams have been tirelessly combing the region for days, looking for missing people.

01:11Some of the rescuers are locals, which makes the search even more difficult.

01:16It's a different feeling when you go somewhere else, and this is exactly the case.

01:20Because of all the people we know, who call us, ask if they can go somewhere,

01:25to see if their parents are alive or close.

01:29And you're not in the situation, you don't know.

01:31And then you come, you find that there is no house for which they ask,

01:35and then what can you say to them?

01:37Rescue teams from neighbouring countries have also come to help.

01:42The guys are giving their maximum, not just us, but all the other teams,

01:47which is, let's say, our main priority and task of every rescuer.

01:52We say that they don't know the borders, don't know where they come from.

01:56We come here with all our hearts to help as much as we can.

01:59Many residents are scared about the rainfall that has been forecast for the coming days.

02:04Nevertheless, they believe that once this is all over, life will go on.

02:08People are depressed, full of nerves and all that.

02:11And life will go on.

02:13But in this part, we will no longer be able to build a house here.

02:17We will have to look for new accommodation.

02:21Five days after the flood, the population was ordered to evacuate from areas at risk of further flooding.

02:27People in the inundated villages believe the response from all levels of government was slow,

02:32that the aid provided was insufficient,

02:34and that not enough has been done to mitigate the consequences of this natural disaster.

02:41For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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