Kolubara River threatens to flood Obrenovac; Teams visit on the ground overnight, crisis HQ to meet

Kolubara at Veliki Crljeni before 8 o'clock this morning; PHOTO: Miroslav Cuckovic

The crisis headquarters for emergency situations in Obrenovac will meet today due to the high water level of the Kolubara River, which threatens to overflow, Telegraf.rs has learned. This information was confirmed for our portal late last night by the president of that municipality, Miroslav Cuckovic.

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According to him, he and the other authorities were in the field last night, and as he told us early this morning, the situation is calm for now.

According to the latest report, Kolubara is 1.5 meters away from outflowing its riverbed in Belo Polje, which should not happen for now.

Cuckovic announced on his Twitter account just before 8 o'clock that there is no danger of flooding for now.

IZVESTAJ STANJE NA REKAMA: VODOSTAJ REKE TAMNAVE IZ PRAVCA KOCELJEVE BEZ PRETNJE DA SE IZLIJE. VODOSTAJ REKE KOLUBARE U VELIKIM CRLJENIMA NA ULAZU IZ PRAVCA VALJEVA BEZ PRETNJE DA SE IZLIJE. VODOSTAJ REKE KOLUBARE KROZ OBRENOVAC U BELOM POLJU BEZ OPASNOSTI. pic.twitter.com/n2bx31hFDS— Miroslav Čučković (@Cuckovicm) June 23, 2020

Obrenovac is remembered as one of the municipalities affected the worst by the catastrophic floods in May 2014. In this Belgrade municipality, which was not the only one that year where Cyclone Tamara did damage, the night between May 15 and 16 that year was the hardest.

It was estimated that 90 percent of the settlements in Obrenovac were flooded, while about 8,700 inhabitants had to be evacuated. Next to Obrenovac is the largest thermal power plant in Serbia - TPP Nikola Tesla, but it was not flooded thanks to good measures that were undertaken.

The Republic Hydrometeorological Service, RHMZ, issued a warning on its website for today, which refers to heavy rainfall that threatens southern and central parts, where 40mm of rain are expected in 24 hours.

Kolubara at Belo Polje in Obrenovac before 8 o'clock this morning; PHOTO: Mirilsav cuckovic

This hydrological alert is in force until noon today, and it, among other things, refers to the Kolubara, which is in the group of rivers where the water levels will be grow significantly, exceeding danger levels.

"On the Tamis River during June 22 at Jasa Tomic water levels will be slightly lower and will move above the regular defense limit, while at Secanj it is stagnant and will move above the emergency flood defense. In Kolubara and Jadar river basins with tributaries, Skrapez, Djetinja, Moravica, Bjelica, as well as in the upper course of the West (Zapadna) Morava during June 22 and 23, water levels will increase while exceeding warning levels, while Jasenica and Kubrsnica will reach warning levels," said the RHMZ alert

Heavy rains that led to torrential flooding, overflowing, and rising water levels on many rivers in Serbia, are the result a cyclone that will continue to bring rain and thunderstorms in most parts of Serbia even today.

(LJ.R. - lj.racic@telegraf.rs)