Torrential downpour has flooded hundreds of homes and swamped roads in northern Bosnia, officials said Tuesday, as rescuers searched for a six-year-old boy swept away by a swollen stream.

The child went missing in the northern Zepce region, national television BHRT reported on Tuesday.

The heavy rain, which started Sunday, has sparked fears of a repeat of the 2014 floods that devastated the Balkan region, killing 77 people.

Weather services have predicted the rain will taper off.

Several Bosnian towns in the hardest-hit north have declared a state of emergency and begun protective evacuations.

More than 200 people have been evacuated in villages around northeastern Doboj, where two rivers have overflowed.

"About 100 houses were flooded, as well as the offices of five companies and 50 hectares of land," said civil defence official Senad Begic.

Floods have also hit around 200 households in northwest Prijedor and 100 east in the town of Celinac.

"The danger has not passed and I invite inhabitants to follow the instructions of the authorities, without panic," urged Radovan Viskovic, Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Bosnian's Serb-run region.

Dozens of homes were also flooded in neighbouring Croatia, where eight tourists, including two children, were rescued by firemen at a campsite on the banks of the Korana river, national TV reported.

After rising rapidly overnight, water levels in major rivers are falling slightly or stagnating, according to weather services.

In the spring of 2014, the Balkans region was hit by its worst floods in more than a century, which affected 1.6 million people and caused an estimated two billion euros in damage, mostly to houses and farmland.

Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Storm water banking could help Texas manage floods and droughts
Austin TX (SPX) May 13, 2019
Massive, destructive floods such as those caused by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 are a stark reality in Texas, but so are prolonged ground-cracking droughts. In a perfect world, there would be a way to capture water from rivers during storms and other high-flow times and save it for the dry times when it's needed. Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have taken the first step to determining whether this will ever be possible by looking at how much water could be stored underground in deple ... read more