From the Previous Rebbe's Prophecy of “Raging Water,” 1944, Based on Psalm
93
“At
any rate, prior to the Redemption, there will take place a great raging of
water, which will so jolt the [people of the] world, that they will suddenly
turn to G-d, blessed be He, and exalt Him. It will thus be as though the waters
have raised their voices through their raging.”
Unprecedented Flooding in Balkan States
By Gabi Abramac
“In
eastern Croatia alone, there are 16 tons of dead cattle and other animals.
Snakes and rats are all over flooded places; mosquitoes, too. It is hard to
believe that the apocalyptic scenes are real.”
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| Photo Credit: Newsweek |
The most terrible floods in the
past 120 years have hit Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia. The rains started on May 13
and, only a few days later, entire cities in Bosnia and Serbia were already
flooded,
followed by flooding in Eastern Croatia. Torrential floods destroyed
bridges and infrastructure and caused about 2,000 landslides which additionally
damaged many towns and villages, sometimes wiping them away completely. The
landslides caused minefields to slide as well. This means that previously
marked minefields are dislocated and some landmines are floating around freely
now, unmarked.It is estimated that about 2.1 million people have been affected.
Thousands lost everything within 20 minutes.
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| Photo credit: Newsweek |
People who were war refugees 20
years ago are climate refugees now. For the second time in their lifetime, some
people have left their homes, taking nothing. No clothing, no shelter, no home,
no family albums. Despair. My heart wept. The hearts of the nation wept and for
the first time since the violent split of former Yugoslavia, we all became one.
The rains and the rivers knew nothing about administrative divisions, and spared nobody.
Slovenia and Macedonia, which were not affected by
floods, helped readily. Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia networked. Unprecedented
solidarity took place.
As soon as the flooding started, I converted my
school, a language institute for adults, into an aid collection center,
organizing an online outreach campaign and involving neighbors, students, and
their families. When the first people crossed the threshold of my school
bringing food, clothing and personal hygiene items, I jumped for joy. And then
I cried.
People are
bringing supplies all day long and all I do is sort-pack-ship: truck after
truck and van after van. The organization of students from Bosnia and
Herzegovina sent their members to the field and they identified the places
where aid was most needed. I also invited people through social networks to
tell us exactly where to go. And it works. People who live in western European
countries phone us to tell about the elderly who need supplies and
students are delivering parcels door to door. Our boxes even reached the tiny
Jewish community in the Bosnian city of Doboj, which had flooded in under six
minutes!
Nobody knows
what’s going to happen next and everybody is afraid of infectious diseases
caused by the decay of dead animals. In eastern Croatia alone, there are 16
tons of dead cattle and other animals. Snakes and rats are all over flooded
places; mosquitoes, too. It is hard to believe that the apocalyptic scenes are
real. The flooded area was estimated to be about 23,000 square kilometers
(larger than the state of Israel).
In some places,
water has not yet withdrawn, and so no cleanup is possible, while in other
cities, people have started cleaning their homes. My friend’s father from
Maglaj tells her that he walks what used to be the streets and just weeps.
There are no roads, no stores, no ATM … nothing. Cemeteries were washed away.
There is only a line for rationed food.
Croatia’s
biggest problem, apart from displaced people, is all the dead cattle because
that was a farming region. People brought their animals up to their attics,
thinking the water would never rise that high. Now they cannot bring the dead,
bloated animals out through the doors. (Imagine a cow four times its normal
size.)
