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Heavy Rains Flood Albanian Low Plains
Tirana | 04 January 2010 | Several hundred families had been evacuated from their premises in Albanian low plains near the Drini and Mati rivers while their houses and farmlands were flooded by an unprecedented amount of water.
The government has advised the residents of several villages to abandon their homes and has provided shelter for them in hotels and school dormitories.
“This is an emergency situation created by unprecedented rains and unusually warm weather,” Prime Minister Sali Berisha said, while visiting the flooded areas. The Fierza hydro power plant, the most important electricity generator in the country, on Sunday was flooded by more than 1000 cubic meter per second.
The Albanian Power Corporation that manages the power plant said that was obliged to open the side gates of the reservoirs in order to maintain the security requirement of the dam.
“Our production covers currently the whole domestic consumption and we are exporting 11 million kilowatt/hours per day,” Muharrem Stojku, head of the corporation said.
Heavy rains in Kosovo and Macedonia during the last several days have fuelled the Drini River, while high temperatures have melted snow in the Albanian Alps. Source: Balkaninsight
