Tine Solberg Johansen
Deminers and other Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) staff in Bosnia and Herzegovina build walls, distribute equipment and food, secure roads and collect water samples for analysis to prevent disease outbreak after the floods.
Enormous rain during the May 2014 caused devastated floods in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia not seen in last 120 years.
Norwegian People’s Aid has rapidly responded on humanitarian crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, caused by floods. NPA immediately support Mine Action Centre in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia with teams for survey of flooded minefields, their marking and informing local population on mine situation, as well as interventions to remove explosive remnants and mines that are found in flooded areas.
Distributed equipment
NPA established coordination with crisis headquarters in affected municipalities in north Bosnia to coordinate NPA rapid response and humanitarian aid and sanitation of terrain for the municipalities of Samac, Orasje, Domajevac Samac and Brčko District.
NPA mechanical team with front loader was engaged sanitation in the municipalities of Šamac and Orašje on prevention of diseases. Through loading of heavy remaining left on the flooded areas they enabled access to houses and local roads. They also removed 500 dead cattle in Samac, and about 50 tones different fallen animals in Orasje. NPA provided 180 gumboots, 600 protection-work gloves, 4,500 protective masks, 175 shovels to the crisis headquarters in the municipalities Samac, Orasje and Domajevac Samac. Staff from the programme has also assisted in distribution of food and drinking water for affected housholds in Orasje and collection of water samples for analysis.
Medical assistance
22 NPA deminers helped to build new walls to stop flooding of Sava river in the city of in Orašje. Two NPA medical teams with ambulance vehicles worked on evacuation of civilians from flooded areas and medical support to local population. NPA medics have assisted in more than 20 medical interventions.
Urgent response on mine action resulted with seven interventions on call from citizens when NPA team removed four mines and 27 other explosive remnants in the municipalitiy of Šamac and District Brčko. NPA team informed 133 people in Domaljevac-Samac and District Brcko on mine hazard.
Risk education in Serbia
In Serbia a team was engaged on collecting of data, mapping and assessment of flooded areas in the municipality of Sid (villages of Jamena and Morovic – Serbian side of tree-border area with Croatia and BiH) and mine risk education of 256 in total that includes local population, staff of Ministry of Internal Affairs and other local administrations.
NPA continues to contribute in the important work to rebuild after the floods.
