After Balkans flooding, tons of drowned livestock

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/57968373-68/bosnia-dead-serbia-homes.html.csp

May 20, 2014
Amel Emric

Samac, Bosnia-Herzegovina • A new calamity emerged Tuesday in the flood-hit Balkans as rescue workers battling overflowing rivers confronted wastelands of drowned livestock.

As the rainfall stopped and temperatures rose, the withdrawing floodwaters revealed a harrowing sight: thousands of dead cows, pigs, sheep, dogs and other animals left behind as their panicked owners fled.

"There are tons of dead animals that we must dispose of," Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told a government meeting.

The record flooding in Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia in the past week has forced half a million people from their homes and led to at least 44 deaths: 22 in Bosnia, 20 in Serbia and two in Croatia.

In the northern Bosnian town of Samac, troops used ropes to pull nearly 400 dead cows out of a barn and drove the carcasses away on trucks.

In Samac, like many Bosnian and Serbian towns, waters rose within hours, racing into yards and homes without warning. Farmers often had no time to free their livestock from barns or fenced fields, so that they could attempt to swim to safety.

Many dead animals were found slumped over the metal fences they had tried to jump over.

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