DREF final report Serbia: Extreme winter conditions DREF operation n° MDRRS006 GLIDE n° CW-2012-000006-SRB th 8 August 2012 The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) is a source of unearmarked money created by the Federation in 1985 to ensure that immediate financial support is available for Red Cross Red Crescent response to emergencies. The DREF is a vital part of the International Federation’s disaster response system and increases the ability of National Societies to respond to disasters. Summary: 206,291 was allocated on 8th February 2012 from the IFRC’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the Red Cross of Serbia in delivering immediate assistance to some 3,000 families (8,000 beneficiaries). Extreme cold and heavy snowfall in late January and early February caused many problems in southern parts of Serbia, spreading in the later weeks to the rest of the country. 38 municipalities declared the state of emergency before the national government declared a national state of emergency on 5 February, mobilising heavy machines as well as 15,000 troops to assist in reaching the cut-off areas with approximately 70,000 residents living there. The Red Cross of Serbia, in its capacity of Red Cross of Brus branch and Fire Squad, combined National Crisis Headquarters member, coordinated medical evacuation in Brus. Photo: Red Cross of Brus its activities with the other actors and assisted with branch distribution of food, hygiene items, blankets, footwear and heaters. Some of the goods came from the DREF allocation, some from the national society’s emergency stock and some were provided by the Serbian government (national and provincial) and bilateral donors (Russian government). The Austrian and German Red Cross societies also contributed bilaterally. The municipal Red Cross branch of Brus also assisted with rescue and delivery missions using a snowmobile received from the Norwegian Red Cross. The planned number of vulnerable people was successfully reached - both the population of the cut off areas that had to be reached using a snowmobile and the especially vulnerable people in otherwise accessible areas. The provision of food and hygiene items helped them preserve their health in the extreme winter conditions whilst the usual supply lines were either cut or slowed down and the usual means of obtaining food and other vital items shrunk due to the extreme weather. The large volume of bilateral support meant that the initial projection of the DREF funding needed for the Red Cross of Serbia operation could be scaled down during the operation. The saved amount of CHF 71,549 will therefore be returned to the DREF. The Netherlands Red Cross contributed CHF 24,184 and the Canadian Government contributed CHF 27,683 to the DREF in replenishment of the allocation made for this operation. The major donors and partners of the DREF include the Australian, the American and the Belgian Governments, the Austrian 2 Red Cross, the Canadian Red Cross and the Canadian Government, the Danish Red Cross and the Danish Government, the European Commission`s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO), the Irish and the Italian Governments, the Japanese Red Cross Society, the Luxembourg Government, the Monaco Red Cross and the Monaco Government, the Netherlands Red Cross and the Netherlands Government, the Norwegian Red Cross and the Norwegian Government, the Spanish Government, the Swedish Red Cross and the Swedish Government, the United Kingdom`s Department for International Development (DFID), the Medtronic and Z Zurich Foundations, and other corporate and private donors. On behalf of the Red Cross of Serbia, the IFRC would like to extend their thanks to all of them for their generous contributions. Details of all donors can be found on http://www.ifrc.org/what/disasters/responding/drs/tools/dref/donors.asp <click here for the final financial report, here for the national society financial report, or here to view contact details> The situation Extreme cold and heavy snowfall in late January and early February 2012 caused many problems in the southern parts of Serbia, particularly in the municipality of Sjenica where the temperature repeatedly dropped to thirty degrees below zero during night time, making it the coldest spot in Europe in the first week of February. Harsh weather then gradually expanded to cover most of the country. Heavy snow and extreme cold caused numerous traffic problems with many of the roads completely blocked, supply lines interrupted and access to medical and other services rendered impossible or extremely difficult. After 38 municipalities declared a state of emergency across the country, the government of Serbia declared a national state of emergency on Sunday, 5 February. The decision was made as multiple problems caused by the weather could no longer be resolved by regular means in terms of road clearing, food, medicine and electricity supply. Approximately 70,000 people were snowed in and cut off from the world at the height of the emergency, whereas ten people lost their lives. The state of emergency was in effect all the way until 22 February. The snowfall lasted until 10 February adding up to 25 centimetres of snow per day on the average with the extreme cold spreading and intensifying. For three weeks the daily average temperatures in Serbia stayed below zero degrees, ranging from minus five to thirty below zero. The electricity supply stayed regular – no restrictions had to be enforced – but many parts of the country experienced cuts due to sporadic network malfunctions caused by the heavy snow. The power was preserved by reducing the industrial customers’ consumption to a minimum including reduction of the use of electricity for street lighting, billboards and neon signs. A historic maximum in power consumption of 160 million kWh per day was reached, as well as a record gas consumption of 15 million cubic meters per day. On 3 February the government urgently sent a non-refundable aid to the most affected municipalities: 332,500 litres of diesel fuel (D-2), 7,000 litres of unleaded gasoline and 5,000 kg of heating fuel. The government also allocated RSD 69.2 million (approximately CHF 790,000) for eliminating the consequences of the natural disaster in 15 municipalities. More than 550 heavy machines, bulldozers, 1,500 firemen and rescuers, 1,200 members of various other services and around 300 medical workers were deployed on clearing the snow and helping people in distress. Following the declaration of the national state of emergency, another 14,000 members of the Serbian Army were deployed. The Emergency Sector officers rescued a total of 176 people from the snowbound remote areas of the country. 3 Red Cross and Red Crescent action The Serbian National Crisis Headquarters was active in responding to the effects of the emergency with the Red Cross of Serbia being part of the planning process, as stipulated by the Law on Emergencies. This ensured that all the Red Cross activities were coordinated at national level with those of other actors with no overlapping and maximum effect. 650 families had been initially identified as the most vulnerable and in need of assistance and the following goods were delivered to these beneficiaries before the DREF operation was launched: • Canned food, 5,450 cans • Ready to eat meals 4,200 pcs • Warm winter clothes, 2,570 pcs • boots, 350 pcs • gloves, 700 pcs • blankets, 1300 pcs • candles 3,500 pcs • family hygiene parcels 1,000 pcs • tea 700 packets Through the operation the Red Cross of Serbia targeted 3,000 of the most vulnerable families, approximately 8,000 people, to be assisted through an urgent distribution of food, hygiene items, footwear, blankets and other emergency items. The International Federation’s Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF) was used for this operation with the Federation’s Belgrade office assisting in the procurement of some of the goods, thus shortening the procedure and ensuring a timely delivery of the needed goods. The emergency items amounting to more than 130 tons were distributed in 26 truck tours across 59 municipalities to the 8,000 most vulnerable people whose capacity to cope with such an extreme cold is very low. The table below describes the distribution, specifying the items that were distributed from the stocks of the national society (Red Cross of Serbia warehouses as well as the provincial Red Cross of Vojvodina stocks), the items procured using the DREF funding and the donation from the Russian government: Donation of Russian DREF NS Stock government Municipality Food Hygiene Blankets Blanket Footwear Candles Plastic foil Heater parcel parcel ALEKSINAC 40 40 0 0 0 0 0 700 ALEKSANDROVAC 60 60 0 0 500 0 30 300 BABUŠNICA 50 60 0 30 0 0 0 0 BAJINA BAŠTA 80 80 0 50 1000 0 24 300 BLACE 50 50 200 0 0 0 10 100 BRUS 60 60 0 20 500 0 18 250 CRNA TRAVA 60 80 0 0 700 0 0 0 GORNJI MILANOVAC 60 60 0 0 500 0 10 300 IVANJICA 80 80 0 0 1200 0 18 400 KRALJEVO 80 80 0 0 0 0 0 0 KRUPANJ 60 60 0 0 0 0 10 100 LUČANI 50 50 0 0 0 0 0 0 LJUBOVIJA 60 90 100 0 0 0 10 100 MEDVEDJA 60 60 0 50 600 0 10 200 NOVA VAROŠ 80 50 0 40 400 21 10 200 PRIJEPOLJE 80 80 0 50 1000 0 30 500 RAŠKA 70 70 200 0 0 0 0 0 SJENICA 200 200 150 80 2000 200 30 500 SOKO BANJA 50 60 100 15 0 0 0 0 SURDULICA 50 50 100 20 1000 0 0 0 SVRLJIG 40 30 120 30 500 0 4 0 TUTIN 60 60 120 40 0 0 0 0 PRIBOJ 70 70 150 50 0 0 0 0 4 BELA PALANKA 40 40 40 20 400 0 0 0 OSEČINA 30 30 60 20 200 0 0 0 KOCELJEVA 30 30 80 20 200 0 0