SHOTLIST:

DURRES, ALBANIA (JAN. 8, 2026) (ANADOLU – ACCESS ALL)

1. VARIOUS OF FLOODED STREETS AND HOUSES/ MAN TRYING TO WALK THROUGH FLOODWATER

2. EMERGENCY TEAMS CARRYING BOAT

3. EMERGENCY SERVICE LOGO

4. VARIOUS OF EMERGENCY TEAMS AND VEHICLES/ FLOODWATERS FLOWING IN STREETS/ EMERGENCY TEAMS EVACUATING PEOPLE/ VEHICLES MOVING THROUGH FLOODWATER/ PEOPLE BEING EVACUATED ON BOATS/ EMEGENCY VEHICLES DURRES, ALBANIA - JAN. 8: Evacuation efforts continued Thursday, Jan. 8, in Albania’s Durres city after floods hit the area.

Albanian emergency crews evacuated dozens of families stranded in flood-affected areas.

Severe weather sweeping across the Balkans has claimed at least one life in Albania, as heavy rains and snow trigger widespread flooding and infrastructure damage throughout the region on Thursday, Jan. 8.

Albanian authorities confirmed the death of a 54-year-old man in the port city of Durres, whose body was recovered from a drainage canal after being swept away by floodwaters.

The military has been deployed to assist civil defense teams with evacuations in the hardest-hit provinces, including Shkoder, Lezhe, and Fier, where rising rivers have submerged homes and farmland.

"We have lost everything," said Altin Lleshi, a resident of Durres, describing how water levels inside his home rapidly rose to over 80 centimeters.

Another resident, Altin Prifti, told reporters his house had been uninhabitable for days, while others noted the suddenness of the deluge left them no time to prepare.

The crisis extends beyond Albania's borders. Kosovo has postponed the start of the school semester until Jan. 12 after declaring a state of emergency in the municipalities of Malisevo and Junik.

In the capital, Pristina, heavy rains have given way to snow, prompting frost warnings and road clearing operations.

Meanwhile, Montenegro has evacuated dozens of residents in Danilovgrad following four days of torrential rain.

Serbia declared a state of emergency in four municipalities amid power outages, while heavy snowfall in Croatia triggered a "red alert" in the Osijek region.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, hospitals in Sarajevo reported an influx of patients suffering injuries from falls on icy streets.


Reporting by Olsi Shehu / Writing by Ayse Elif Erdis