Serbia declares state of emergency over floods

Serbia has declared a state of emergency amid widespread flooding as it was deluged by heavy rains triggered by unusually high temperatures in eastern Europe and freezing conditions elsewhere.
More than 700 homes were flooded across a vast area of the Balkan country with 170 people needing to be moved for their safety, police said in a statement yesterday.
Further heavy rain was expected in the coming days, forecasters warned.
More than 50 people died and tens of thousands were displaced in spring 2014 when Serbia and its neighbours were hit by some of the worst floods in living memory.

Flood damage was estimated to have cost the country as much as 2 billion euros (USD 2.2 billion), according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.