Over the past three days, three months' worth of rain has fallen on the Balkan region, producing the worst floods since rainfall measurements began 120 years ago. The flooding has affected huge parts of Serbia, and more than a quarter of Bosnia's 4 million people: The Bosnian government is warning of "terrifying" destruction comparable to the country's 1992-95 war. At least 40 people have died in the region, and tens of thousands of others have fled their homes, packing into buses, boats, and helicopters - many of them farmers leaving their livestock behind. There's an additional hazard: leftover land mines. Floodwater has disturbed known minefields and damaged some markers that had been placed there to warn people away.
Balkans Struck by Worst Flooding in 120 Years
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Read morePeople stand on a terrace of their flooded house as they wait before being evacuated in the town of Obrenovac, southwest of Belgrade, on May 16, 2014. The heaviest rains and floods in 120 years have hit Bosnia and Serbia, killing dozens and forcing tens of thousands out of their homes and cutting off entire towns. #
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Read moreThe flooded area in Obrenovac, some 30 kilometers (18 miles) southwest of Belgrade, Serbia, on May 18, 2014. #
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Read moreIn this May 18, 2014 aerial photo, floodwaters cover the village of Gunja, eastern Croatia. #
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Read moreA Bosnian man views the scene after a landslide caused by flooding in the village of Topcic polje near Zenica, 120 kms north of Sarajevo, Bosnia, on May 15, 2014. #
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Read moreA man reacts near a house tilted by floods in the village of Krupanj, west of Belgrade, on May 19, 2014. #
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Read moreSerbian forensic specialists remove a body in front of a flooded house in Obrenovac, southwest of Belgrade, on May 20, 2014. #
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Read moreA vehicle stranded in mud is seen on a street that was hit by floods in Topcic Polje, near Zepce, on May 16, 2014. #
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Read moreAn aerial view of a flooded orchard near city of Brcko, on May 18, 2014. Russian cargo planes and rescue teams from around Europe joined huge volunteer aid efforts in areas of Serbia and Bosnia where at least 35 people have died in the worst floods in over a century. #
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Read moreA Bosnian man searches for people and animals after flooding in the village of Vojskova near the Bosnian town of Bosanski Samac, flooded by the river Sava, on May 19, 2014. #
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Read moreA dog stands in a flooded street in the town of Obrenovac, southwest of Belgrade, on May 16, 2014. #
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Read moreA man rescues a dog during heavy floods in Vojskova on May 19, 2014. #
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Read moreA pig is stranded on a roof during heavy floods in Vojskova on May 19, 2014. #
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Read moreA man rescues cats from the roof during heavy floods in Vojskova on May 19, 2014. #
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Read moreVillagers paddle a boat carrying rescued pigs during heavy floods in Vojskova on May 19, 2014. #
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Read moreIvana Andric, 21 years old, stores some personal belongings at her home prior to her evacuation from the village of Sremska Raca, 110 kilometers west of Belgrade, in anticipation of floods, on May 18, 2014. #
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Read moreBosnian people evacuated from their flooded homes take shelter at a sports center in the northern Bosnian town of Odzak on May 19, 2014. #
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Read moreVolunteers prepare food for people affected by floods in the town of Smedarevska Palanka, southeast of Belgrade, on May 20, 2014. #
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Read moreA photo shows houses tilted at crazy angles over a ravine after a landslide occurred in the flooded village of Kosova, near the northern Bosnian city of Doboj, on May 19, 2014. #
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Read moreEvacuated people in a military truck leave Obrenovac, some 30 kilometers (18 miles) southwest of Belgrade, Serbia, on May 17, 2014. #
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Read moreDestroyed vehicles in the flooded village of Gunja, in eastern Croatia, on May 18, 2014. #
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Read moreA partially-submerged cross in a flooded cemetery in the village of Vojskova, on May 19, 2014. #
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Read moreThis image made available by the Serbian police shows the flooded area in Obrenovac, 30 km (18 mi) southwest of Belgrade, Serbia, on May 18, 2014. #
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Read moreA Serbian rescuer carries an elderly woman out of her flooded house in the village of Obrez, near the central Serbian town of Varvarin, on May 17, 2014. #
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Read morePeople look out of their apartments as they wait to be evacuated in the town of Obrenovac, southwest of Belgrade, on May 16, 2014. #
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Read morePeople paddle boats down a flooded street in Obrenovac, Serbia, on May 18, 2014. In Serbia, more than 20,000 people have been forced from their homes. #
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Read moreA man throws a life preserver towards people waiting to be evacuated from a flooded house in the town of Obrenovac on May 16, 2014. #
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Read moreSheep stand on the terrace of a flooded house in Obrenovac on May 20, 2014. #
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Read moreThe river Bosna threatens to inundate a bridge in the town of Zavidovici 120 kms north of Sarajevo, on May 15, 2014. #
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Read moreSerbian army soldiers evacuate people from a flooded house in the town of Obrenovac on May 16, 2014. #
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Read morePeople evacuate a shopping center during flooding in the central Bosnian town of Zenica on May 15, 2014. #
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Read moreA Bosnian man walks on a damaged railway track near Tuzla on May 17, 2014. #
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Read moreA pig waits to be rescued during heavy floods in Vojskova on May 19, 2014. #
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Read moreBosnian soldiers repair mine warning signs in fields near the banks of a river that flooded near the town of Visoko, 30 km north of Sarajevo, on Tuesday May 20, 2014. The flooding has unearthed landmines left over from Bosnia's 1992-95 war and washed away the signs that marked them. #
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Read moreDead cows wait to taken away by the Bosnian military from a farm near the Bosnian town of Bosanski Samac along river Sava, on May 20, 2014. A new calamity emerged Tuesday in the flood-hit Balkans even as emergency workers battled overflowing rivers and evacuated thousands: tons of drowned livestock were posing a health hazard. With the rainfall stopping and temperatures rising, the withdrawing floodwaters revealed a harrowing sight: thousands of dead cows, pigs, sheep, dogs and other animals that were left behind after their panicked owners fled rapidly advancing torrents. #
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Read moreVillagers paddle during heavy floods in the village of Prud on May 20, 2014. Communities in Serbia and Bosnia battled to protect towns and power plants on Monday from rising flood waters and landslides that have devastated swathes of both countries and killed dozens of people. #
Reuters/Srdjan Zivulovic
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