The devastating floods that hit Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) last year, in which 27 people lost their lives, were obviously not a lesson or a reason to take preventive measures so that this would not happen again. Floods and high water levels in Fojnica, Bugojno, Jablanica, and Dreznica once again represent a danger.
In the area of Bugojno, the river overflowed, and several houses were flooded, while others are still endangered.
Amir Secibovic, Minister of Spatial Planning of Central Bosnia Canton (CBC), said that these are unforeseen situations that are difficult to predict, and that it cannot be claimed that similar situations will not repeat.
Perica Pejak from the Civil Protection of Bugojno said that they have about ten facilities that are affected, and that the most important thing is to resolve the road blockage and establish traffic.
One of the problems leading to river overflows is the clogging of waterways with waste.
University professor Dalibor Balian reminded of an example from Bugojno, where a stove and a refrigerator blocked the river flow, causing the water to spill over and flood the surrounding houses. He also pointed out that in Maglaj in 2014, floods occurred because the riverbed of the Bosna River was narrowed, which prevented it from letting through large amounts of water.
There is currently an emergency hydrological situation in the basin areas of the Una, Sana, Sanica, Vrbas, and Bosna rivers. Due to the high water level of the Vrbas, the “Gornji Vakuf” Elementary School issued a warning to students and parents not to approach the riverbed and not to stay on bridges or the riverbank.
In the area of Jablanica, 13 people were evacuated two days ago in the settlements of Zlate, Begici, and Sasici. There was also an interruption of communication on the Jablanica-Blidinje main road due to landslides and the river overflowing onto the road.
Azra Vila-Babic from the Civil Protection of the Municipality of Jablanica stated that they reacted immediately by clearing the area and that the machines went out twice. After another collapse, the teams went out into the field again.
In Dreznica, the Drezanka River overflowed onto the road below the swimming area, and in Donja Dreznica, in the settlement Novo Naselje, the water threatened one house, due to which the family was evacuated during the night. The water level of the Una River is also rising, but it has not yet reached critical points. In the area of Kulen Vakuf and Martin Brod, the water spilled onto agricultural land, but residential buildings are not endangered for now.
