Rising Danube waters likely to spare the Balkans

Watch above: Serbia and Bosnia both observed national days of mourning as the Balkan countries clean up from the worst flooding in more than a century. Stuart Greer reports.

BELGRADE, Serbia – Fed by the highest rainfall ever recorded in the Balkans, water levels in the mighty Danube were rising on Tuesday, but authorities expressed hope Europe’s second-largest river will spare the region already devastated by flooding.

Serbia’s Hydro Institute said the Danube’s levels will surge in coming days but should remain within the limits of flood defences, even as smaller swollen rivers, such as the Sava, flow in. Authorities in towns and villages along the Danube said they were watching the situation closely.

The flooding in Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia in past days has forced half a million people out of their homes and led to at least three dozen deaths. In Serbia, the floods have been threatening the country’s biggest power plant, while in Bosnia there is danger from the shifting of mine fields left over from the country’s war.

Both Serbia and Bosnia have appealed for international help, saying damage from the flooding will be measured in billions. The two countries still have not fully recovered from wars of 1990s, which claimed 100,000 lives and left millions homeless.

In Bosnia, many people who have only just rebuilt their homes after the war have faced a new calamity with the flooding. The government said Tuesday it was considering giving land for free to compensate partly for the damage.

Bosnia declared Tuesday a day of mourning, while Serbia’s government said it would mourn its dead Wednesday-Friday.

Serbian authorities have moved to evacuate the flooded town of Obrenovac, the site of a major power plant. Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said Tuesday additional defences have been built overnight around the plant, threatened by the surging Sava River which later flows into the Danube near the capital, Belgrade.

The plant in Obrenovac supplies electricity for half of Serbia and most of Belgrade. It has been working with reduced capacity because a nearby coal mine it uses has also been flooded.

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Aida Cerkez contributed from Sarajevo, Bosnia.