Civil protection administrations across the country issued warnings, on Friday, regarding heavy rains which are expected to swell major rivers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the coming days.

The eastern city of Srebrenica's Civil Protection headquarters said they expect more than 100 litres per one square metre on the May 12, 13 and 14, in northern parts of the country. The citizens living near rivers should move to safer places on time and protect their property against flooding as much as possible, they warned.

The northern city of Banja Luka's Mayor, Igor Radojicic, said on Friday that the city has been in standby for the past two days and that they are preparing a city Civil Protection HQ's session.

“We started implementing the procedures and instructions for the prevention of severe weather conditions in case of floods,” Radojicic said.

He recalled that the Republika Srpska (RS) entity weather centre announced significant rainfall starting from May 12, and added it would be difficult to evaluate the exact amount of rain.

The Banja Luka Mayor asked citizens to watch for the weather warnings in the coming period and recommended they take preventive measures to protect their properties and lives.

Both Civil Protection Administration in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) entity and the RS also published warnings recommending that citizens should, prepared materials to stop water from penetration into the house, plan where to move the movable property to safe, listen to the local radio and TV program and follow all instructions.

If they find themselves in the house, the administrations said, citizens should move to the upper floors or roof and wait for help. They recommended that citizens should get out of the flood water and not try to swim, walk or ride on it.

When it comes to furniture, it should be harnessed and secured inside the house, and main electricity connectors and switches should be disconnected, they added.

The administrations noted that locals affected with floods should fill their tubs with clean water in case the water supplied becomes polluted.

Sava river's levels are on the rise along the Posavina Canton in the north of the country, and central-Bosnian river of Spreca had poured out of its banks on Friday, flooding 15 hectares of arable.

The FBiH Administration noted that rivers Sana, Una, Usora and Spreca have the greatest risk of flooding, emphasising that landslides are also expected in the flooded areas.