The tragedy that struck Jablanica, Konjic and the surrounding areas in October 2024 claimed human lives and left lasting consequences. Every new heavy rain therefore reopens the question of how prepared we are for torrential floods. Have we learned a lesson from the tragedy, Kristina Marković investigated.
The profession warns of risks
After a dry period, the soil has a hard time absorbing heavy rainfall, and on steep mountain slopes, water flows quickly, creating torrential floods.
Geography professor Vedran Zubić warns that risks are further increased by human activities, such as quarrying, and that expert warnings should not be ignored.
“If you add to that a quarry that water can break through, and then endanger a village with stones, then you have a whole series of problems that we do not take into account. It is easiest to say that climate change is to blame for everything. You have a profession that tells you about anything and everything, you have meteorology, hydrographs, and we act as if that profession does not exist,” Zubić points out.
Warnings from experts are important, but what happens after them is crucial. How is information about the announced heavy rainfall transmitted to the competent services and when are measures to protect the population activated?
Timely warnings and service response
When the Federal Hydrometeorological Institute issues a warning of heavy rainfall, it is up to the competent civil protection services to immediately forward the information to the institutions and services in charge of monitoring the situation and taking the necessary measures.
“When we receive warnings from the Federal Hydrometeorological Institute about heavy precipitation, the task of the Civil Protection Administration is to urgently inform all those who are expected by the legislator to take care of safety and monitor the situation, as well as what they have specifically done. Where there is a need, we engage our rescue services,” explains Pero Pavlović, spokesperson for the Civil Protection of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton.
Watercourse maintenance as a preventive measure
In addition to the warning system, an important part of prevention is regular watercourse maintenance. The Agency for the Water Area of the Adriatic Sea states that every year they issue a public call for the extraction of material from watercourses in certain locations. It is about removing deposits of gravel, sand and other material, in accordance with regulations and needs on the ground.
According to the Agency’s data, the activities include five locations in the area of Konjica, watercourses of the first category, the reservoirs of the hydroelectric plants Jablanica and Grabovica, the old bed of the Neretva River in the area of Jablanica, the area of Jasenica in Mostar and the area of Čapljina.
Prevention involves more than cleaning riverbeds. It includes timely warnings, respect for the profession and responsibility of all authorities. Because when the torrent starts, there is often too little time left to react, and the consequences can be irreversible.
