The damage caused by the floods to the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina more than a month ago has still not been repaired, and new, heavy rainfall is already being announced. Fear is also present in Bihać. The floods that almost hit this city brought the hard realization to the citizens that they are mostly left to their own devices.
Mehmed Ramakić from Bihać estimates the damage to his home at more than 10,000 marks. The floods that hit this area in December destroyed, he says, everything he had acquired over the years, and the announcement of new rainfall brought new fear. The furniture was already up.
“Everything I created in my life was destroyed by that flood. I created for 50 years and it all went away in one day… They say it will happen again, I raised everything, furniture… I raised the pellet by 40 cm , but I can’t know how much water there will be…”, says Mehmed.
As the damage assessment commission has not yet completed its work, the office of the Mayor of Bihać could not provide information on the amount of the assessment and to what extent the citizens will be helped. Allegedly, damages were reported by more than two hundred citizens.
“I heard on TV that people should prepare, to take shelter where they can, in case there is any snow. If the rains continue, there will be more. Am I scared? I’m alone…”, she says Šerifa Hodžić from Bišća.
In the afternoon, the Una river water level was one centimeter above the critical point. What is going well right now is the snow that is falling, say the Civil Protection Service of the Una-Sana Canton. However, they add, they are ready for any scenario.
“If there were to continue to be rain, then there would be floods. It is fortunate that the snow came. I think that the water level will stop rising in the area of the Una-Sana Canton,” says Muhamed Pečenković, assistant director of the Una Sana Canton Civil Protection Service.
Although the predictions are that the floods will bypass Bihać this time, they also showed that the authorities and competent institutions did not seriously deal with this problem with the aim of solving and building embankments. These existing ones have already issued them.
