Talk:2014 Southeast Europe floods

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Template:WikiProject Floods

A news item involving 2014 Southeast Europe floods was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the In the news section on 17 May 2014.

Wikipedia

Most of the aid is going to Serbia and only little to Bosnia...why?

Can anyone explain this? What is the reason?

It seems out of proportion since both countries were hit hard.

Serbia is even richer than Bosnia and is a better organized country and has better roads etc.

From what I can see about 80% of the aid seems to be going to Serbia and the rest to Bosnia.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Zec (talk • contribs)

First of all, this is not a competition, and we shouldn't treat it as such. Second, let me say that I don't think the difference so far has been as big as you say. Also, the biggest difference is in aid from countries that have especially close ties with Serbia, while neutral countries have donated more or less equally (sometimes Bosnia received more help), so I don't see that as something unexpected or unnatural. If your assessment is based on this article, you should consider that maybe the people from Serbia update the article more vigorously and that's what causes the difference. I for one, being from Serbia, update only verifiable news, i.e. what I see from multiple sources in Serbia. I don't want to update the situation in Bosnia, without proper sources, and these are scarce because Serbian media is more focused on Serbia's plight. For this very practical reason, I leave that to Bosnians. Finally, as explanations for your hypothesis, consider that Serbia has 8 neighbors while Bosnia has 3, and that Belgrade is directly affected, while Sarajevo isn't, and this has outright effects on how help is asked for. Vrstefko (talk) 13:05, 22 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The focus of the international media has also been mostly on Serbia and less so on Bosnia. I have followed the coverage and also the celebrity response by Serbian celebrities may have contributed also with many western celebrities focusing and mentioning Serbia.

But credit to Serbia and their politicians, maybe also the fact that Serbia is a EU candidate country has also something to do with this.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Zec (talk • contribs)

Rainfall statistics

A suggested improvement to the article would be to include actual rainfall statistics. How much rain fell (in mm or inches) over what period of time (hours? days?) and in what areas? Truthanado (talk) 11:45, 18 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Done, briefly, for Serbian part of the area. No such user (talk) 15:02, 20 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Needing photos of Obrenovac

We need photos of Obrenovac.--Zoupan 14:15, 18 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Article title

The floods are not confined to SE Europe, so it should be moved to 2014 European floods. Jim Michael (talk) 23:40, 18 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Disagree. The flooding is concentrated in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Another, more appropriate title, would be "Balkans floods".--Zoupan 23:49, 18 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

That's the most severely affected area, but Slovakia (which is never classed as being in SE Europe/the Balkans) is significantly affected. Jim Michael (talk) 14:23, 19 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Name / Poland

Uh, Poland is not in Southeast Europe. Also, pl wiki article about this pl:Powódź na Bałkanach w 2014 roku does not consider it an event affecting Poland, and calls it a "Balkan Flood". We need to decide on the scope of this, either rename the article or remove Poland from the list of affected countries. Looking at Polish news sites there's some talk about rains and "pre-flood emergency measures", but it doesn't appear that Poland was affected (yet...). --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 08:42, 19 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Balkan flood

Everywhere this event is called Balkan floods. I think we should rename this article to 2014 Balkan floods.--VuXman ^talk 13:23, 19 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Well, not the entire area of Balkans was hit, so I prefer the current title. Just my opinion. --BiH (talk)

Eventually this article is hoped to include the flooding events listed at the bottom of the page under the EU Emergency Response Centre links, which covers antecedent flooding in Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Croatia...etc and there are also some associated flooding events in Italy too if I recall, and some heavy rainfall and stormy conditions in Austria from the Tamera/Yvette low which probably fall under the scope of this article. 2013 Europe floods is a bit too broad perhaps, and we don't know if there will be more wide scale flooding elsewhere yet. Balkan flood seems a little restrictive also, but then also some regions have been affected which would fit neither this or the Southeast Europe name (if being very literal). I think the "Tamera" and "Yvette" names are not known enough in the English media, and would also restrict this to the one event and make it difficult to add the flooding before the large floods of 14 May onwards. I was also unsure of whether the use of Balkan might be construed or taken as a pejorative term in some situations. see here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkans#Southeast_Europe.Lacunae (talk) 16:59, 19 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Slovakia isn't in the Balkans though. IJA (talk) 19:44, 20 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Lacunae, in case you decide to update the article, the name coined by Serbian meteorologists is Tamara, not Tamera. Witchunter (talk) 20:16, 20 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks Witchunter, I had just stopped by to correct myself. I don't suppose anyone could help to clarify where the name Tamara comes from? is it the local meteorological centres? or did it come from twitter, or is it just being used in the Serbian and Bosnian press?Lacunae (talk) 20:48, 20 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Tamara is a female name. I'm guessing they used the same method in naming it that they use for hurricanes. I think it's the official meteorological name used by the Balkans meteo-services, since Yvette is not at all common in the Balkans ("Y" itself doesn't exist in Serbo-Croatian).Vrstefko (talk) 21:44, 20 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

To be more precise, the name was originally chosen by SerbianMeteo, a community of Serbia-based meteorology enthusiasts. The site is currently down because of a surge in visits. Although this community is the largest of the kind in the country, Tamara is in no way an official name given by any authorized body. The local and regional media adopted it immediately, and now it's de facto name of the cyclone in the region. Witchunter (talk) 22:19, 20 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

In that case, can someone update the article with Slovakian side?--VuXman ^talk 20:42, 20 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

NASA Aqua imagery

NASA has recently published Aqua satellite photos which show the extent of the flooding, at least after the first wave: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=83697&src=ve. Since I can't upload so large files at the moment, I would be grateful if someone copies them over to Commons (they're {{PD-NASA}}) and incorporates them into the article. No such user (talk) 09:46, 21 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Celebrities

This sub-section is spiralling out of control with its extent. I can understand including the footballers who have returned to help out in their hometowns, and even Billy Idol as he decided to donate from his gig, but do we need to mention that Stephen Fry and Paulo Coelho said on the Internet that they felt symathy? '''tAD''' (talk) 20:18, 21 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. Perhaps a table with the people who donated money/supplies would be appropriate, including the amount. Also, there's no need to include celebrities who expressed their support via social networks, that's not valuable information. Witchunter (talk) 21:02, 21 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Absolutely on spot. Needs cleaning. User:Vlada.a — Preceding undated comment added 23:49, 21 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I'm thinking this section should be maybe moved to its own page, as the subject of celebrity response is starting to detract from the subject of the flooding. Novak Djokovic's efforts have been notable, but when it comes to obscure Dutch chefs and Bosnian/Serbian TV stars unknown in the English media, and American celebrity tweets, I find it somewhat less relevant.Lacunae (talk) 08:17, 23 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Maps

We need maps that show not only current flooded areas (water is receding anyhow), but all the areas that were damaged. It would be good to be able to distinguish flooded areas, broken levies, areas with landslides, torrents. Any map people out there? Vrstefko (talk) 19:32, 22 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Map being taken down

I made a map (see below) based on European Comission press releases/maps - given that the previous map was very vague -, but someone anonymous from behind an IP keeps taking it down. I'm all for updating and improving it if it's missing info and whatnot, but I don't really want to play games. - ArnoldPlaton (talk) 22:36, 22 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

This map is good as a general overview of the areas in the region that are affected and I commend you for your effort in making it. However, it is imprecise. Here's why: Obrenovac is by any standard the "most affected" area, but the map doesn't show it. Belgrade is included, while it was not flooded. Conversely, Bosanski Samac is not included, although it was flooded. A couple of places that are mentioned in the article are not shown, for instance Krupanj, Gunja, Kostolac. If you made the map using just the EC data, the data is bad. With all that in mind, I would still like to have this map rather than no regional map at all. Vrstefko (talk) 23:24, 22 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Good maps are hard to come by. Maybe this helps: http://balkans.aljazeera.net/vijesti/interaktivno-poplave-i-klizista-u-regiji Vrstefko (talk) 23:32, 22 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I think the map by ArnoldPlaton is superior to the one which appears to show just Croatia which is presently on the page.Lacunae (talk) 08:20, 23 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

This new and improved map should be posted in the article. Vrstefko (talk) 16:21, 23 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Adding section with details for support

Maybe it would be good to add section with details for support? Pledging for a financial support and donors. I do not know is that appropriate on Wikipedia, but, at least links to official support pages can be added? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vlada.a (talk • contribs) 14:37, 23 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]