Floods in Bosnia and Herzegovina

According to official data from the Headquarters of the Civil Protection of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 19 people have been confirmed dead in the flood-affected areas as of the October 8 report. However, since the search for missing persons is still being, the number may rise.

Yesterday, UNICEF team managed to arrive in Donja Jablanica, a small town that suffered the greatest damage from floods and landslides, which occurred in the early morning hours on October 4, 2024.

The first scenes we encountered upon entering Donja Jablanica were extremely poignant. Traces of damage and losses were visible at every kilometer. The search for the missing was still ongoing, as well as the clearing and securing of the terrain. Where houses used to be, now there is only mud, silt, and stones.

Upon entering the city, accompanied by the Assistant Federal Minister of Health, Dr. Goran Čerkez, we visited the Jablanica Health Center and spoke with the principals of the "Jablanica" secondary school, Sabina Palić, and the "Pčelica" Kindergarten, Sanja Idrizović.

The health center in Jablanica has 53 employees, including one pediatrician and six specialists in family medicine. Under regular circumstances, it provides health care for 11,000 residents.

As a result of the tragedy that struck this area, they have treated 75 injured people, including 5 children. One pregnant woman lost her life, while another is in critical condition and hospitalized.

Health services have not been interrupted, including immunization. There was no power outage; and the generator and two refrigerators for vaccines, which UNICEF provided during the COVID pandemic, are also in operation.

Initially there was a shortage of tetanus vaccines when treating the injured, but the supply since has been restored. They have enough donated disinfectants, medicines, and other consumables.

Currently all the needs for supply are met, as they have received enough donations, at least for the next 15 days. It is important to coordinate donations, so as not to accumulate quantities that are not needed.

During the conversation with the director and employees of the health center, we noticed visible signs of traumatic stress amongst the affected communities. As the director herself says, many of them feel the effects of trauma such as, insomnia, fear, and weakness and express a strong need for psychosocial support.

The education process in Jablanica is currently stopped. The secondary school center has 195 enrolled children, 11 of whom are from the affected area of ​​Donja Jablanica. The elementary school has about 600 children, and the kindergarten has 85.

About half of the children in both schools are from the surrounding towns and use transport to school. This is the main reason why schools are still unable to operate since the roads are closed. Efforts are underway to set up online classes for the affected children until the roads reopen and   they can resume the education process.

One of the positive news is that the kindergarten "Pčelica" starts working today.

It is concerning that there is no employed psychologist in any institution in Jablanica to address to the mental health and psychosocial needs of affected children.

Both directors agreed that Psychosocial support for employees, as well as support in the development of a healthy coping mechanism for school children, are urgent needs that we have at this moment.

Residents of the affected area are mostly staying with relatives, whose houses are not in danger or the surrounding areas. Some of them are housed in a nursing home and in the Jablanica hotel.

All the locals with whom we had the opportunity to talk expressed the fear that the tragedy could happen again and said they feel extremely insecure. On the night after our visit, a mass evacuation of residents was organized, due to the announcement of the possibility of new floods, which luckily, did not happen.

In the coming days, UNICEF will work intensively with partners to determine the situation in the fields of education, health, social and child protection and coordinate a response alongside other UN agencies and government partners.