BELGRADE - Belgrade is setting up sandbags and earth barriers along the rivers Danube and Sava to prevent flooding in the Serbian capital when water levels peak later this week, authorities said on Monday.
The water levels on the two rivers, which merge in Belgrade, are rising by 20 cm (7.8 inches) above normal, with the critical period expected around Wednesday and Thursday.
"We have started work in several critical spots in the capital today, putting sandbags and rising the level of earth embankments," Goran Kamcev, head of a flood prevention task force, told Reuters.
The main trouble spot was near a boulevard along the Sava which was closed at the weekend because of flooding. A second road circling the city's old fortress is also threatened.
The museum of modern art has evacuated some of its exhibits as a precaution.
Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina has already seen some flooding, with hundreds of holiday cottages on the Danube banks destroyed. Authorities in its main city of Novi Sad said they had set up sandbags along the river and were prepared.
Danube water levels are expected to drop slightly after reaching a peak, but are likely to remain high for a month, posing new threats if the water manages to erode embankments and if more water flows in from melting snows or rains.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
