FUCZ team helps with cleanup in Skopje after floods

Members of the Federal Civil Protection Administration and the Civil Protection of Sarajevo Canton, who went to Skopje on Friday to help with the aftermath of the recent catastrophic floods, are working on pumping water, and firefighters are carrying out disinfection, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

A representative of the BiH embassy in Skopje immediately visited them and emphasized that they are at their disposal during their stay in Macedonia. Together with firefighting units, the team, with all available equipment and personnel, was immediately deployed to the industrial zone of the municipality of Ilinden, where private and state business entities were flooded.

The FUCZ team is working on pumping water, and after that, firefighters are carrying out disinfection. So far, all planned activities of this team have been successfully completed.

These activities of the Federal Civil Protection Administration and the Civil Protection of Sarajevo Canton were preceded by the decision of the Council of Ministers of BiH, the Agreement between the Council of Ministers of BiH and the Government of the Republic of Macedonia on cooperation in protection against natural and other disasters, and after the Republic of Macedonia, through the EU's Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC), addressed the Ministry of Security of BiH with a request for international assistance, following the recent catastrophic floods that hit Skopje and its surroundings.

Otherwise, after the May 2014 floods in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Macedonia sent a team of firefighters with a vehicle and equipment who, together with members of the FUCZ, provided assistance to the affected areas.

Cleanup continues this week, and the return of these teams, who are the only representatives of BiH in Macedonia, is planned for August 21, 2016.