The rivers Danube and Sava were threatening to overspill into the streets of the Serbian capital Belgrade on Sunday, with the peak of a flood wave travelling downstream yet to reach the city, DPA reported A major street along the Sava was closed to traffic Saturday afternoon, after becoming submerged by a metre of water, after the swollen river broke through the drainage system. Recreational paths running along the largely unpopulated areas beside the confluencing rivers were largely submerged. Basements of houses on the Danube shore in New Belgrade were filling with water and there was concern of pollution from the overburdened sewer system, local media reported. Both rivers had reached close to the top of embankments and were rising by around a centimetre per hour at the capital on Sunday afternoon, but officials insisted that they would not overspill. The situation was also close to critical 80 kilometres upstream in Serbia's second largest city Novi Sad. The river did not rise above the embankments, but in some lower areas water was gushing from the drains. Emergency measures were declared in several cities, including Novi Sad and parts of Belgrade. The water level was expected to peak Sunday and Monday before stagnating and remaining higher than usual for around six weeks. Bulgaria was also bracing for floods along the Danube. At Vidin, the river rose by another 21 centimetres between Saturday and Sunday and was just under the critical point of 9.5 metres. A major road linking Vidin with the capital Sofia was submerged at Archar. ---SP 21 48 Local Time 18 48 GMT
