BELGRADE, Serbia, March 28 (UPI) -- Landslides and floods have swept large areas of central Serbia, wrecking about 1,000 houses and leaving thousands of villagers homeless.
Heavy rains have caused earth and rock landslides, and flood waters from swollen rivers produced additional headache.
Damages so far have been assessed at 15 million euros (USD18.1 million), said Velimir Ilic, Serbian minister for capital investments.
"According to my assessment in counties across the country, about 200 houses were destroyed, about 500 were in a critical stage and 700 were seriously damaged. Repair and construction work for these houses is assessed at 15 million euros," Ilic said on Belgrade television.
He said the government would provide most of the money needed to assist the homeless.
Houses for homeless families would be constructed in the next three months and in the meantime some of the homeless would be accommodated at relatives or in empty village homes.
Additional damage was rendered to thousands of hectares of farmland and electric power grids and overhead cables, roads and small bridges.
