http://inserbia.info/today/2014/05/republika-srpska-floods-claim-three-lives/
Republika Srpska: Floods claim three lives BANJALUKA – Three people were killed in floods in Republika Srpska (RS), a state of emergency due to flooding was declared in capital Banja Luka, and the situation remains critical in the entirely flooded city of Doboj and town of Samac in the RS north on Friday. A man died in Bijeljina, northern RS, on Friday morning when a wall of a sunken house collapsed over him. Another person drowned in the river Vrbas and one more life was lost after a landslide devoured three houses and a mosque in the municipality of Vlasenica, eastern RS. A lot of villages in the region of Banja Luka have been flooded and the river Vrbas washed away a bridge connecting a village to the city, the RS Civil Protection Administration said in a release. Banja Luka Mayor Slobodan Gavranovic said Vrbas is at its highest level ever recorded in the city’s history. There are also a several dozen landslides in the Banja Luka region. The river Bosna spilled its banks and entirely flooded Samac. There is no electricity an no drinking water in the town, and the phone lines are down. Rain is constantly falling on already saturated grounds and the river Sava threatens to wash away the embankments mounted by the Civil Protection and further flood the city, said Savo Minic, municipal head in Samac. The Civil Protection is evacuating people by boats. The situation is critical in Doboj, where the water level of the river Bosna reached 670 centimeters, 220 centimeters above the level triggering emergency flood protection and an evacuation operation is underway there. All roads to and from Doboj have been closed off. RS President Milorad Dodik said in Banja Luka Friday that the situation in the BiH is worsening by the hour and the floods have caused huge material damages. During a break in the extraordinary RS government meeting, Dodik told reporters that the government adopted a decision to set up a headquarters for emergencies for the entire RS. RS Prime Minister Zeljka Cvijanovic will head the headquarters, entity level public broadcaster RTRS said. “Everything is being done to help the endangered people in Doboj, and we fear that the situation in Samac and Bijeljina is getting even worse,” said Dodik.
