The recent floods in southern Serbia hit the municipality of Vlasotince especially hard – causing the need for nearly 200 persons to be evacuated. Over 1,000 families in that municipality were affected by the floods. While the main water supply has been repaired and running water is available – it is not yet drinkable. The need for supplies to help residents clean and disinfect their homes is great. The U.S. Embassy through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Department of Defense, European Command (EUCOM) has responded with $55,000 in immediate assistance, coordinating specific needs and amounts with the local administration, the Center for Social Work, communal enterprises and the Serbian Red Cross.
The recent floods in southern Serbia hit the municipality of Vlasotince especially hard – causing the need for nearly 200 persons to be evacuated. Over 1,000 families in that municipality were affected by the floods. While the main water supply has been repaired and running water is available – it is not yet drinkable. The need for supplies to help residents clean and disinfect their homes is great. The U.S. Embassy through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Department of Defense, European Command (EUCOM) has responded with $55,000 in immediate assistance, coordinating specific needs and amounts with the local administration, the Center for Social Work, communal enterprises and the Serbian Red Cross.
The United States is providing 6,250 kg of detergent, 3,400 kg of disinfectant cleaning supplies, 500 packages of hand disinfectant, 12 mud pumps and 64 pumps to spray the disinfectants as well as diapers, blankets and rubber gloves. The U.S. Embassy wishes to acknowledge the Serbian Red Cross and the Ministry of Defense for their ongoing support and participation in delivering and distributing this humanitarian assistance.
The assistance, funded by the American people, comes as residents are returning to their homes and is designed to help speed the recovery process. Much of the assistance was procured through USAID's Contingency Planning Program, which supports municipal capacity-building in local level disaster management. When the clean-up is over, Vlasotince's municipal disaster management team will also join other municipalities throughout Serbia that are participating in USAID's program to strengthen local response, recovery, prevention and preparedness in dealing with natural disasters and other crises.
Deputy Chief of Mission Jennifer Brush will present a portion of U.S. assistance to the municipality of Vlasotince to Srdjan Susulic, Mayor of Vlasotince, on December 6.