The President of the Republic of Macedonia, H.E. Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, visited today the inundated areas around the river Crna in the Pelagonija region, as well as the villages of Trojkrsti and Loznani.

President Ivanov visited Trojkrsti village where members of the Army along with employees from the public enterprises in Prilep and members of the Fire Brigades were placing sandbags for flood control following the weather forecasts for more rains.
As was reported by the relevant institutions in the city of Prilep, today around six thousand sandbags are to be placed near the river Crna and the Blato channel in the vicinity of Chepigovo, Trojkrsti and Topolchani villages.

"Today we came to Pelagonija region in order to see the activities near the river Crna and all measures implemented by the Army, municipalities and public enterprises having in mind that new rains are expected, meaning that these weak spots on the river bank should be repaired. We have around 250 army members here, trying to place a total of ten thousand sandbags in the course of the day, in order to improve the situation" - the Macedonian President stated.
President Ivanov called upon local population to take part in the action.

"Locals should help army staff and all others involved in order to avoid bigger catastrophes that we have already seen happening in neighboring countries" - said President Ivanov.

The Chief of General Staff of the Army, Lieutenant General Gorancho Koteski informed that the Army has been deployed in several regions.

- In these past few days, the Army has been engaged in Shtip, Strumica, Kumanovo and here in the Pelagonija region, especially near the Crna riverbank. The Army has been investing maximum efforts and is ready to put all its capacities at the disposal of the citizens and local authorities affected by floods, he added.

General Koteski underlined that the Army is also fully prepared to evacuate affected areas if need be.

"At this moment, we have included 700 soldiers, as well as mechanization, in order to provide fuel to municipalities affected by floods. We prepared two aviation teams if there is need for evacuation of people from these areas" stated Koteski.

The Mayor of Prilep Marjan Risteski informed that during last night's meeting of the Crisis management HQ held in Bitola and led by the Minister of Transport and Communications Mile Janakieski, it was agreed that Bitola and Prilep as bigger municipalities should help smaller municipalities in this situation.

"We offered our assistance in order to prepare for the new rainfalls that were announced. The Army provided several hundred of their staff, and both municipalities also made available all the staff from public enterprises. Over one hundred people from Prilep volunteered to help in placing sandbags along the Crna riverbank and wherever weak spots were detected. We hope that we will succeed because the water level of the river and of all the channel drainages is at its peak", said Risteski.

The Mayor of Bitola Vladimir Taleski confirmed that his municipality will assist in the repairs of the Crna riverbank.

"The problem in this region is that Crna river does not have enough capacity to absorb all waters. We are trying to divert water flows to avoid waters reaching the houses in residential areas. There are also major fissures of the riverbank near the villages of Radovo and Charlija. We have people and activities there as well, said Taleski. New information regarding the next meeting of the Regional Crisis management HQ in Bitola is expected in 14:00."