Serbia declares national state of emergency over floods

The Serbian government on Thursday declared a state of emergency on its whole territory as a preventive measure against floods caused by heavy rains.

After a government session here, the government stated that emergency was declared as a "preventive measure that will facilitate and accelerate operation of all institutions in Serbia in protecting life and security of citizens and their property, as well as in repairing damages caused by floods."

The decision to declare an emergency was proposed by the crisis response team which gathered prior to the government session to discuss the situation.

Police evacuated 171 people in the past several days, while more than 700 infrastructural objects are considered endangered.

The government on Tuesday declared emergency in 15 municipalities and deployed police and army forces to deal with the crisis.

"The migrant crisis makes the situation more difficult, so police will be assisted by the army in the following days to secure the border," according to an official government press release.

The government appealed to citizens to respect the declaration of emergency and prevent even bigger consequences during the critical rain period which will last until March 15.

Serbia's national weather service estimated that during the night 20-30 liters of rain will fall per square mile in West and Southwest Serbia, and that it will continue to rain throughout next 24 hours.

Although the situation is currently stable in Serbia, water levels of rivers Morava, Timok and Ibar high and with more rainfall expected during the night, there is a threat of floods in surrounding cities and villages, arable land and private property.

Nebojsa Stefanovic, Serbia's interior minister, said after Thursday's meeting of the national crisis response team that the situation is most critical in city of Cacak and municipality of Lucani, while the city of Novi Pazar will be carefully monitored.

"We will focus above all on rivers Morava, Timok and Ibar," Stefanovic told Pink television.

The EU on Thursday donated 1.2 million euros (1.35 million U.S. dollars) for flooded areas in Serbia, while Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic announced the country will be able to allocate 30 million more for repairing water infrastructure objects.

Serbia is still recovering from heavy floods which struck in 2014 that caused great damage to infrastructure, arable land and claimed more than 50 lives. Endit