Attachments
A. Situation analysis
Description of the disaster
In the last week of January, Macedonia was affected by storms with heavy rainfalls and snow in the higher areas.
The storms caused serious damages in the eastern part of the country, especially in the Municipality of Karbinci where a few villages were immediately evacuated due to the rise of the water levels of the rivers as well as the artificial lake Kalimanci and Gradche where the dams reached their full capacity.
Due to the efforts of the National Coordinative Body, the people were evacuated in the city of Shtip or Radovish, while the cattle were moved to lands on a higher altitude.
At the end of January 2015 another alarm was set for storms which occurred during the last weekend of the month. The situation had already been critical due to the high level of the rivers and the inundated dams in eastern Macedonia, and in addition the warmer weather and the rains caused an early melting of the snow in the mountain areas which additionally worsened the situation in the affected regions.
The National Crisis Management Body immediately prepared and executed an action plan and undertook activities for reducing the expected flood impact. All government institutions on the national and local levels mobilized their resources and allowed their immediate deployment.
The region of Bitola incorporates two additional municipalities, Mogila and Novaci, and Bitola is the most affected region by the recent floods. Namely, the heavy rains and the high level of water from the previous months but also the serious amount of garbage and rubble in the riverbed of the river Crna caused serious flooding on the agricultural fields and cut off several villages. Although the state institutions both on central and local levels invested significant efforts in order to reduce the floods, the water succeeded to penetrate the homes of the local population. The local institutions in joint action with the locals were placing sandbag blocks on the most exposed sections which proved to be insufficient. On the night of 4 February 2015, the level of the river Crna reached a record high level and posed a serious threat to the municipality of Novaci, that is mostly to the houses that were in the first row. The local crisis management centre had to undertake a drastic measure and cut the main road and as a result, the municipality was partially saved. In the whole above mentioned region, the water supply infrastructure is severely damaged and the water is not potable for the time being.