FLOODING

TIRANA, Jan. 6 – All of Albania’s top authorities insisted Wednesday that the residents of the areas affected by the floods in the northwestern part of the country should immediately evacuate as they may face increased threats on their lives.
Interior Ministry reported that only 232 families were evacuated.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha said that the country was facing a potential catastrophe after days of heavy rain which have left hundreds of houses flooded in the northwestern areas. More rain and also snow could endanger thousands of people resisting their evacuation.
“We are in a real emergency situation and a potential catastrophe,” said Berisha at an emergency government meeting to discuss urgent evacuation plans of flooded areas.
“The rain has been falling for 10 days. It is our duty to prevent catastrophe, so these areas have to be evacuated,” he said adding that the army was completing evacuation plans.
Earlier media reports indicated that a number of villagers from Shkodra area refused to leave their homes fearing they would loose their possessions, and authorities threatening they will be evacuated by force.
“The loss of even one life would be a heavy burden for the country. It is more courageous to find a way to overcome this situation with wisdom,” Berisha said calling the inhabitants of flooded villages to evacuate.
The same appeal came Wednesday from President Bamir Topi while visiting the flooded area.
The president said that it was high time to hold a regular and normal evacuation, urging the people there not to fight that process when the situation becomes worse.
According to latest reports, over 3800 hectares of land are under water and 350 houses are flooded.
Floods in the low plains in northern Albania have led to a rapidly deteriorating situation during the last few days and meteorologists warn that the worst is not yet over.
Authorities have been insisting this week the people should leave the area or they will force the evacuation of villagers who refuse to abandon their homes.
Local television stations have reported that the majority of inhabitants in the flooded areas refuse to move, saying that they want to save their domestic animals first, which is the major cash revenue in rural Albania.
“If it will be necessary, we will use [force]. We have done so before because our first duty is to save people’s lives. We will help farmers as well to remove their domestic [animals],” Leonard Olli, head of the National Emergency Team said in a press conference.
Many other people who were evacuated have returned to their homes saying that they did not like the living conditions in the facilities offered by the government.
The government has offered public buildings and hotels to shelter them.
Around 570 houses are reported flooded while 200 more are isolated by the rising waters of the Drini River. Authorities said that 3800 hectares of farmland and some 300 houses were now under water.
The situation will worsen in the next few days, the meteorologists say, expecting storms and heavy rains in the low plains in the north.
The opposition Socialist Party has also urged the people to leave the area and has criticized the government for the inadequate management of the river flow.
“The government is more interested to import electricity than to produce it, and this is the real reason of the last flooding,” lawmaker Ilir Beqja of the Socialist Party said.
The only option was to open emergency gates to let the flood water from the plant reservoirs be expelled means more flooding, said Erjon Brace, also a lawmaker saying that it was better for the residents in that area to leave now.
Usually three big dams on the Drini River regulate the flows, but during this period all the reservoirs are full and the national electricity corporation has been obliged to open the side gates.
Several hundred families had been evacuated from their premises in the Albanian low plains near the Drini and Mati rivers while their houses and farmland were flooded by an unprecedented amount of water.
The government has advised the residents of several villages to abandon their homes and has provided shelter for them in hotels and school dormitories.
“This is an emergency situation created by unprecedented rains and unusually warm weather,” said Berisha.
The Fierza hydro power plant, the most important electricity generator in the country, is the key to the water level of the river basin. The Albanian Power Corporation that manages the power plant said that it was obliged to open the side gates of the reservoirs in order to maintain the security requirement of the dam. Water level has surpassed the limit of 290 meters and gone up to 292-293 meters. Its maximum level is 296 meters after which a total catastrophe is possible.
The three hydropower stations are working at full capacity.
Head of the corporation, Muharrem Stojku, said that they cover the whole domestic consumption and also export 11 million kilowatt/hours per day. The country produces some 28.8 million kWh per day.
Heavy rains in Kosovo and FYROM during the last several days have fueled the Drini River, while high temperatures have melted snow in the Albanian Alps.
The army troops are essential in all this process.
Hundreds of soldiers and transport vehicles continue to repair the protective walls and also engage in evacuating the people from the flooded areas.
Energy Minister Dritan Prifti said they were keeping a close eye on the water levels at the Drini River.
Experts have said that opening the side gaits remains the only solution for the moment, meaning that the flooded area will continue to remain under threat.