American Red Cross and Bulgarian Red Cross Provide Assistance to Victims of Floods in Bosnia

Written by Carol Miller, Staff Writer, RedCross.org

Rugs and other saturated household belongings dry over the railing of newly re-settled homes of families displaced by the Bosnia war in 1995.

SOFIA, Bulgaria, August 22, 2001 —  Jassen Slivensky just returned from leading his second joint American and Bulgarian Red Cross relief convoy in a month. The first time, he transported 10,000 family relief kits to Macedonia for distribution to families displaced by violence earlier this year. This time, he was helping families recently affected by flooding in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Slivensky, director of Disaster Services for the Bulgarian Red Cross, and his staff delivered 6,000 blankets for distribution to families forced out of their homes by turbulent, fast rising rivers, flash floods and mudslides in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The blankets were taken to the Tuzla canton (state) where the damage was greatest. Many of the affected families there had only just returned to their homes, six years after the war in 1995. The flood waters sent them fleeing to higher ground, once again leaving their possessions and homes behind.

Flood victims receive blankets donated by the American Red Cross and Bulgarian Red Cross at the Red Cross office in the town of Jivinice, BiH. The women pictured are from newly re-settled internally displaced families who had moved into their homes that were then flooded by cresting rivers due to three consecutive days of rain in late June 2001.

More than 30,000 families were affected by the floodwaters, which in some homes were over three feet. Mudslides and flash floods swept through farms and villages, but the swifter response of the Joint Civil Defense and the Red Cross of Bosnia and Herzegovina minimized the loss of life. Property damage is high; any items left outside the homes were swept away including farm machinery and firewood. The impact of damaged and destroyed crops has yet to be felt on this fragile economy.

Neighbor Helping Neighbor —
Red Cross Societies Lean on Each Other

For more than a decade, the American Red Cross has been helping families throughout the Balkans region. Programs range from emergency response to long-term recovery and development. Many programs are also designed to help local Red Cross societies increase their capacity to meet the needs of their communities. Beginning in Bosnia in the early 1990s, the American Red Cross commitment to vulnerable people who live in this historically volatile region has grown. Huge relief and recovery efforts continue in Kosovo following the 1999 crisis. Now the focus is on providing immediate assistance to the Bosnian flood victims and those families seeking safety from the violence in Macedonia.

In July 2000, American Red Cross President and CEO Dr. Bernadine Healy and Bulgarian Red Cross President Professor Stoyan Saev signed a partnership agreement to increase immediate response and relief capacity in the region. Working together, the societies will provide assistance to the vulnerable - women, children, the sick and elderly — who suffer the most during disasters and crisis. The agreement formalized a partnership forged during the Kosovo crisis and Turkish earthquake in 1999.

The partnership agreement is designed to build Red Cross strength and emergency response capacity in the region. The people of the Balkans have survived violence and adversity and are now searching for lasting peace and stability. For many, the Red Cross is one of few constants in their communities. Working with our local Red Cross partners, the American Red Cross hopes to build upon and increase this trust.

Since the formalized partnership, the American Red Cross delegation in Bulgaria has been providing guidance and financial support to develop the capacity of the Bulgarian Red Cross to respond to disasters both domestically and throughout the region. Relief operations, including the recent supply convoys from Bulgaria to Bosnia and Macedonia, require significant coordination and planning. American Red Cross workers and their Bulgarian counterparts have been developing these highly detailed response plans and making necessary preparations. Special attention has been given to logistics of moving people and supplies through customs and across international borders.

Approximately 30,000 people were evacuated, some of whom will not be able to return home to destroyed houses - especially those with ruined foundations due to mudslides.

American Red Cross programs and support include the procurement and warehousing of relief supplies in a warehouse owned jointly by the Bulgarian and American Red Cross. A newly outfitted garage is maintaining the growing Bulgarian Red Cross fleet of trucks and vehicles necessary to transport supplies. Red Cross volunteers are being trained to understand their roles during a disaster.

American Red Cross Head of Delegation in Bulgaria, James R. Ackley summed it up, "On the day we were asked if we could help the flood affected families in Bosnia, we were able to confirm and implement our response within one hour. It was incredibly gratifying to see the plans, developed through our partnership with the Bulgarian Red Cross, acted upon so quickly and efficiently."