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A combination photo shows people carrying their belongings as they evacuate from their flooded house during floods May 16, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. Bosnia's 3.3 million voters will choose a new political elite across six layers of government on October 12, 2014, in an election that, had it happened a few months ago, might have been a catalyst for change. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

A combination photo shows people carrying their belongings as they evacuate from their flooded house during floods May 16, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. Bosnia's 3.3 million voters will choose a new political elite across six layers of government on October 12, 2014, in an election that, had it happened a few months ago, might have been a catalyst for change. But hopes that civil unrest in February would usher in a brighter future for a country riven by corruption and ethnic and ideological divisions have been all but extinguished in the aftermath of devastating floods that struck three months later. Senahida Kovacevic, whose village, Topcic Polje, was wiped off the map during the floods, says she has spent every day since mid-May in rubber boots, clearing her home of the mud that buried it during the worst rains to hit Bosnia in more than a century. From the 800 million euros ($1 billion) in aid pledged by international donors to help the country recover, 47-year-old Kovacevic, her mother and the three brothers she lives with received a couple of doors and windows, which didn't fit. Complaints about the misuse of foreign flood aid are rife, sharpening the perception of a corrupt political elite that has left would-be voters disillusioned and despairing of change almost 20 years after the end of Bosnia's 1992-95 war. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)




A combination photo shows a man carrying belongings recovered from his house during floods May 20, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

A combination photo shows a man carrying belongings recovered from his house during floods May 20, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)




A combination photo shows people walking past a damaged electric pole during floods May 20, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

A combination photo shows people walking past a damaged electric pole during floods May 20, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)




A combination photo shows a dog sits on a flood-damaged basketball court during floods May 20, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

A combination photo shows a dog sits on a flood-damaged basketball court during floods May 20, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)




A combination photo shows Asim Skopljak walking on a street during floods May 16, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

A combination photo shows Asim Skopljak walking on a street during floods May 16, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)




A combination photo shows Asim Skopljak talking on a mobile phone as he walks near a car stranded during floods May 16, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

A combination photo shows Asim Skopljak talking on a mobile phone as he walks near a car stranded during floods May 16, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)




A combination photo shows resident Zehid Kovacevic cleaning mud from the inside of his home during floods May 31, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

A combination photo shows resident Zehid Kovacevic cleaning mud from the inside of his home during floods May 31, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)




A combination photo shows Asim Skopljak standing on a street that was hit by floods during floods May 16, 2014 (top) and the same place on after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

A combination photo shows Asim Skopljak standing on a street that was hit by floods during floods May 16, 2014 (top) and the same place on after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)




A combination photo shows members of the Kovacevic family clearing mud away from the kitchen in their flood-damaged home during floods May 31, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

A combination photo shows members of the Kovacevic family clearing mud away from the kitchen in their flood-damaged home during floods May 31, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)




A combination photo shows Kovacevic family changing his boots during floods May 31, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

A combination photo shows Kovacevic family changing his boots during floods May 31, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)




A combination photo shows Adin Osmanovic posing in front of his flood-damaged house during floods May 20, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014, in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

A combination photo shows Adin Osmanovic posing in front of his flood-damaged house during floods May 20, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014, in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)




A combination photo shows a member of the Kovacevic family clearing mud inside his home during floods May 31, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

A combination photo shows a member of the Kovacevic family clearing mud inside his home during floods May 31, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)




A combination photo shows Fata Kovacevic reacting near her flood-damaged house during floods May 20, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

A combination photo shows Fata Kovacevic reacting near her flood-damaged house during floods May 20, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)




A combination photo shows Kovacevic family house during floods May 31, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

A combination photo shows Kovacevic family house during floods May 31, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)




A combination photo shows Topcic Polje during floods May 20, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

A combination photo shows Topcic Polje during floods May 20, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)




A combination photo shows people evacuating from their flooded houses during floods May 16, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

A combination photo shows people evacuating from their flooded houses during floods May 16, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)
09 Oct 2014 12:18:00