Desperate Serbwife

Belgrade mostly high and dry

So by now, everyone in the world has seen pictures on television of the flooding in Serbia. I have gotten questions from many of my friends and family at home asking me if we, in Belgrade, are affected by the flooding that they have seen on the news. And I have to say, thanks to the good planning of Serbia's ancestors, as well as intelligence of Serbia's current leaders, all but a small portion of the city has been protected from the floods.

You see, Belgrade is on a big hill - which I'm sure Serbia's ancestors choose for a reason, both to stay dry when the Danube floods, and also to stay safe when attacked. The current leadership has followed in the intelligent footsteps of their ancestors and resisted the advice of other Western European countries to "build up your riverfront, everyone likes the riverfront!"

Belgrade has been built up in recent years, but the leadership has specifically not permitted new building along the low-lying riverfront. They have received a lot of flack from developers and citizens because no permits were issued for areas that would be in danger of flooding. But this week, they are looking quite smart and I think they deserve a bit of kudos for their forward thinking.

This is not to belittle the losses of the thousands of poorer people on the outskirts of the city who have lost their homes - many of them are in dire straits and will have to rebuild their lives, much like so many Americans in New Orleans. The Serbian government has a lot of work to do in order to help repair the homes of the most vulnerable and especially the farmers who have lost their farmland since they obviously don't have the same option of locating their farms away from the watersource..

(picture that Mike and took on the outskirts of the city of a house that is half submerged)


But in general, the majority of the residents of Belgrade itself have remained high and dry, just like they have for centuries....

posted by Brooke @ 4:18 PM