A Decade After North Macedonia’s Deadliest Floods, Dangers Remain

On August 6, 2016 torrential rain triggered a devastating flash flood in the north-east outskirts of Skopje, killing 22 people and causing more than 30 million euros in damage.

Suburbs of the capital like Singelic and Cento, villages like Stajkovci and Aracinovo, and surrounding areas were among the worst hit, as torrents of water and mud swept through streets and homes within minutes.

“We narrowly escaped death. The water was almost two metres deep. I have never seen this kind of weather,” one Stajkovci resident said at the time. “It was terrible. We had only half a minute to get outside [the house] and save ourselves when the water surged,” said another.

In the aftermath, experts pointed to several factors that had turned an extreme weather event into a disaster. Around 93 litres of rain per square metre fell on the heavily deforested southern slopes of Skopska Crna Gora Mountain in just four hours, allowing water and mud to rush towards the settlements below.