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Satellite Images Show Serbian Town Underwater after Floods

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The town of Obrenovac in northwest Serbia was largely submerged in flooding that wreaked havoc across the Balkans last week. The town was evacuated, but at least 14 people were killed and entire portions of the town were destroyed.

The historic flooding–more rain fell in three days than normally falls in a month–killed at least 40 people in Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia and caused more than a billion dollars in damages. On Tuesday, Serbia declared three days of national mourning. In Bosnia, where a day of mourning was also held on Tuesday, the government says more than 1 million people — a quarter of the neighboring nation’s entire population — were affected by the flooding and landslides.

The satellite photos of Obrenovac, provided by Digital Globe, Google, CNES, and Astrium, may be even more explicit than the numbers. The rooftops of homes can be seen poking out above the floodwaters; entire fields disappear under the murky water; and roads lead into newly formed lakes.

Left: Obrenovac, Serbia before the floods. Right: Obrenovac, Serbia May 21, 2014. CNES/Astrium; DigitalGlobe/Google
Left: Obrenovac, Serbia before floods. Right: Obrenovac, Serbia May 21, 2014. CNES/Astrium; DigitalGlobe/Google
Left: Obrenovac, Serbia before floods. Right: Obrenovac, Serbia May 21, 2014. CNES/Astrium; DigitalGlobe/Google
Left: Obrenovac, Serbia before floods. Right: Obrenovac, Serbia May 21, 2014. CNES/Astrium; DigitalGlobe/Google
Left: Obrenovac, Serbia before floods. Right: Obrenovac, Serbia May 21, 2014. CNES/Astrium; DigitalGlobe/Google
Left: Obrenovac, Serbia before floods. Right: Obrenovac, Serbia May 21, 2014. CNES/Astrium; DigitalGlobe/Google

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