Deadly Floods Cause Chaos in Albania

Parts of Tirana remain underwater and without power following widespread flooding, as authorities confirm one man is dead and another is missing.

Fatjona Mejdini

BIRN

Tirana

Tirana streets flooded after heavy rainfall | Photo: LSA/Malton Dibra

One person has been killed and another is missing after heavy rainfall triggered widespread flooding across Albania over the weekend.
Viktor Gjergji, from the northern town of Lezha, drowned on Sunday while fishing on the Kune lagoon as the weather worsened. A worker from the Dibra hydropower plant, also in the north of the country, is still missing.
Tirana has also been badly affected as the city’s drainage system failed to cope with the 48-hour downpour.
Many parts of the city are now underwater and around 19 families have been evacuated from their homes as the Tirana River threatened to burst its banks.
The floods caused power cuts and water shortages in many Tirana neighbourhoods, with local media outlets reporting that one of the city’s main public hospital had also been flooded.
The main highway connecting Tirana with the port city of Durres was flooded yesterday, causing long delays and traffic jams.
Other cities in the north and the south of Albania were also flooded and municipalities were forced to assemble and send out emergency teams to pump water from roads and streets.
The country has been hit by a series of floods which have been blamed on outdated and neglected drainage systems, many of which have been built by individuals without state approval.

Workers struggle to unblock drains in Tirana | Photo: LSA/Malton Dibra

The Albania government recently received an EU grant totalling 16 million euros to finance infrastructure building to prevent flooding. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has also promised to allocate more money to flood-prevention measures.