Catastrophic floods in Bijeljina inflicted significant damage to the Safe house for female and child victims of domestic violence run by the Foundation / Organization "Lara".
Our Safe house is located in the village of Batković, roughly 10 kilometers away from the town center. Despite the risk assessment of flooding in the town of Bijeljina had initially considered this location as less vulnerable, water surges caused by breaking Sava basin levee entered the village and consequently the Safe house building.
For preventive reasons, our beneficiaries and Safe house staff had moved away on Friday afternoon, May 16th. However, due to the fact that the city centre was flooded, we were not able to access the Safe house before Sunday, May 18th. Water had already entered the lower parts of the house and has now engulfed the entire ground floor.
We were able to save a certain amount of the inventory (the archives/documentation and a certain amount of computer hardware), but all the furniture remained in the water, including appliances such as washing machines, fridges, freezers and the like.
Following the water's withdrawal it will be necessary to carry out disinfection of premises, change the flooring, dry and repaint the walls and replace the furniture.
Bearing in mind that the situation is extremely difficult and that a large amount of the population suffered from the flooding, we will be extremely grateful for any help you can provide in repairing the damage, so that our Safe house can start to function normally as soon as possible and be available to its beneficiaries.
