Bosnian villagers sift through ruined homes after devastating flash floods

TRUSINA, Bosnia: Women sat on the ground in tears in the Bosnian village of Trusina on Sunday as an excavator dug through the remains of their homes that were destroyed in the country’s deadliest floods in years.

A flash flood swept through the Jablanica area, southwest of Sarajevo on Friday, killing at least 15 people, the cantonal government said, and the search for those missing continued on Sunday.

In Trusina, no people were reported to have died, but houses, orchards and gardens were devastated.

“It is difficult to believe that an orchard, garage, car and another smaller house was here,” Duda Sutlic said “Everything disappeared in 10 minutes.”

“I was happy here. I had a life and I worked hard. Today I have no strength. All we have left now are our pensions - 500 marka ($282.21).”

A meteorologist Nedim Sladic told N1 TV that in under six hours, the region around Jablanica received as much rain as usually falls in three or four months.

Ecologists say the floods in Bosnia have been particularly damaging because years of neglect of river beds, deforestation and uncontrolled construction and exploitation of wood and stone have aggravated the impact of climate change.

Other parts of Europe have also been hard hit by flooding as well as extreme heat and wildfires.

“Everything that my father created and that I have created after him disappeared in 30 minutes,” Admir Poturovic, another resident of Trusina said. “But life goes on. One has to move on” he said.