Extensive flooding has hit Macedonia after three days of heavy
rain, leaving one man dead, bridges wiped out and homes and fields
inundated Tuesday. Police said a 51-year-old man drowned in the
northern town of Kumanovo after being swept away Monday while trying to
cross a river. His body was discovered Tuesday by rescue crews in the
mountainous Balkan nation. Roughly 300 homes were flooded in the
village of Josifovo, 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of the capital of
Skopje. Hundreds more houses and commercial buildings were inundated in
the southern village of Dabile, where the fire brigade was evacuating
elderly residents.
The central Pistica dam was described as being in a "critical"
situation, with authorities concerned it could collapse. Nearby,
thousands of hectares (acres) of fields were flooded and 20,000 people
were without electricity in the town of Sveti Nikole, the National
Crisis Management Center said. A swollen river swept away two
bridges in the central part of the country, stranding a village of 1,500
people, while rockslides in several parts of eastern Macedonia blocked
roads. Authorities also urged the 40,000 residents in the central town
of Stip not to drink tap water due to the contamination of wells by
floods. Meteorologists said the rain would not stop until Thursday. Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/02/26/3254479/macedonian-homes-flooded-villages.html#storylink=cpy
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