PART OF BUJANOVAC FLOODED, CRITICAL SITUATION IN SURROUNDING PLACES

12. January 2021.

Bujanovac - A large amount of rain fell in South Serbia over the previous two days, so that Novo Naselje and Bujanovac Spa were under water on Monday morning, two thirds of the Žuželjica village were cut off, while it was also critical in Levosoje, Oslar and Božinjevac, reported the Bujanovac News portal.

It was announced that teams with boats would arrive in Bujanovac from Nis and Vranje due to the possible evacuation of the population.

It was said at the session of the staff for emergency situations that the Trnovačka River was about to overflow, and that the most critical situation was near the Lopardin bridge.

The road to the village of Rakovec was impassable from the bridge near the Health Center to the village.

The residents of the endangered settlements were embittered.

It was said at the session of the staff for emergency situations that they were working on providing excavators from private companies in order to intervene in Novo Naselje, Bujanovac Spa, Levosoje, Žuželjica and Božinjevac, where the situation was the most critical. So far, three excavators have been provided.

Due to the overflow of the canal, Žuželjica near Bujanovac has been cut off from the rest of the municipality since Sunday evening, and an excavator has been working on clearing the road in that village since Monday morning.

Zoran Spasić, the leader of the local community of Žuželjica, stated for the Bujanovac News portal that the cleaning of the canal had been requested in 2019, as well as that the work had been postponed for 2020, but that even then it had not been finished.

“It was estimated that the cleaning of the canal would cost 300,000 dinars, and now the damage is far greater, "Mr. Spasic said.

The locals expect that the mechanization, which was hired by the Emergency Situations Staff, would enable the local road, which has been impassable since last night.

On Monday, around 11 am, it was announced that firefighters-rescuers had performed an "intervention of pumping water from 10 family houses" in Novo Naselje near Bujanovac.

The residents of Rakovec near Bujanovac organized themselves against the flood, a journalist of the Bujanovac News portal reported from the scene. They say that they called the local staff for emergency situations in vain, after which they hired a private company with mechanization. The canal, which has never been cleaned so far, endangered about thirty households..

Source: Vranje News, Bujanovac News and Coordination Body