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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People 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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An 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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A 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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Ivana 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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A 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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Bosnian 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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Dead 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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Villagers 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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