Some assistance flowing in; floods, cold take first victims
TIRANA, Feb. 10 – Flooding and cold weather have claimed their first victims this year while thousands of hectares remain under water in the country’s south.
On Feb. 6, last week the body of a 38-year old woman was found in Ohrid Lake after she was swept away from the yard of her home by floodwaters from a river near Pogradec, 120 kilometers east of the capital Tirana. Another 52-year old woman was found dead from cold weather in her apartment in Pogradec.
Meanwhile, authorities say that some 600 families have been evacuated in four southern districts after flooding covered more than 17,000 hectares and killed about 3,500 sheep and cows.
Police, army and a unit from neighboring Kosovo have been helping emergency service workers.
Authorities started to bury the perished livestock to avoid health as specialists expressed fear that dead animals constitute a major threat for the health of residents, since it increases the risk of different epidemics. Albanian National Food Authority has taken measures to prevent abuses with the meat of animal carcasses so it does not end up in the food chain.
Prime Minister Edi Rama has said that everybody will be compensated for the losses.
Agriculture Minister Edmond Panariti has said that farmers will be first compensated for their livestock. Meanwhile tons of livestock food has been transported to the area as part of general assistance by authorities and donors.
Authorities have also distributed food, water and sleeping material to the affected population.
A lot of contribution has come from neighboring Kosovo while non-governmental organizations have started to collect foodstuff, clothes and money for the affected flooded population.
The European Union, the International Red Cross and a series of other organizations have sent hundreds of thousands of euros in aid to deal with the floods.
Individual countries have also helped. The Serbian government also decided to send financial aid of 50,000 euros to Albania. Israel also offered money and other equipment at the emergency center.
The floods were caused by heavy rain and snow that has fallen steadily over the region in the last few days. Man-made factors contributed to the severity of the problem like soil erosion, deforestation and bad management of rivers. The dam reservoirs also are old and have not been maintained.
Floods also did not escape the political reaction. Over weekend a minister was blocked from entering a flooded village, a move that was later learnt to have been done by some young supporters of the main opposition Democratic Party.
The Democrats accused the government of incompetence in dealing with the floods and the governing Socialist Party accused the Democrats of trying to play politics with the disaster.
Officials of the European Commission said a donor conference could be called by the EU to help Albania and Macedonia cope with the flood damages.
