The floods in Slovenia claimed another life. A man was found dead on the bank of the Sava River in Ljubljana on Saturday, police said, according to media reports. He is said to have lived nearby. Circumstances indicate that he was killed by the flood, it said. The number of victims who died in the storms rose to four.
In the flooded areas, evacuations continued on Saturday. An exact number of people who had to be brought to safety was not initially known. However, according to the commander of civil protection, Srečko Šestan, thousands had already been evacuated.
A large-scale evacuation was scheduled for the afternoon in the municipality of Jesenice, where a landslide endangered a village. As a precaution, residents of a dozen streets will not be allowed to spend the night in their homes.
The rescue workers were also busy supplying the residents in the cut-off areas with water and the most urgent relief supplies. In one village in the Upper Savinja Valley alone, around 1,000 people, mostly tourists, were provided with food and accommodation on Friday evening, Šestan said at a press conference in Ljubljana.
Video: Storm claimed three lives in Slovenia
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“Greatest Natural Disaster”
Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob spoke of the “biggest natural disaster” in the country’s recent history. “The damage is unimaginable, affecting practically two-thirds of the country,” he said.
The Prime Minister reported at a press conference after the meeting of the National Security Council that the damage to infrastructure and buildings was estimated at more than 500 million euros. According to Golob, it is not necessary to declare a state of emergency for the time being because the civil protection system is working properly. In addition, Slovenia has received offers of help from the international community and neighboring countries, including Austria. “It is right that we accept any help that we may need so that we can get Slovenia back on its feet as soon as possible,” said the prime minister.
Golob announced that the cut-off floodplains would be served from the air. Meanwhile, the media reported that the community of Črna na Koroškem, which has been isolated for two days, has now been reached by a military helicopter with 30 soldiers on board. For the time being, there were no reports of injuries from the community, which has no intact road connection, but the authorities nevertheless announced that several people would be flown out. The residents would be supplied with water and the bare essentials, it said.
The situation in the flooded areas remained tense in many places. Numerous places in the north of the country were still difficult to access because of the destroyed roads and bridges, some were still cut off.
The A1 motorway between Ljubljana and Celje was open again on Saturday afternoon. The important transit route through Slovenia in the direction of Graz and Vienna had been interrupted since Friday morning. Many local roads were still flooded.
At least five Dutch people are initially missing. The Foreign Ministry announced this to radio station NOS on Saturday, reported the German news agency dpa. It had previously become known that two Dutch people had died. No further details were given. 400 Dutch people had to leave a campsite after severe flooding. Two Dutch men aged 50 and 20 died on Friday. They came from Gouda and, according to media reports, were on a mountain hike near Veliki Draski.
Croatia is gearing up
After the devastating floods in Slovenia, neighboring Croatia is also preparing for flooding. Heavy rain fell in parts of the country. In addition, the Sava river coming from Slovenia and its tributaries were expected to swell on Croatian territory, Croatian news portal index.hr reported. The high point of this flood is to be expected on Saturday evening.
A few people had to be rescued. In the municipality of Brdovec near the capital Zagreb, houses were evacuated because they had already been hit by water. In the north of the country, near Varazdin and Karlovac, the civil protection officers erected dams from sandbags as a precaution.
The Adriatic coast is also partially affected. In Split, after a storm and heavy rain, vehicles had to be brought to safety from flooded streets and basements had to be pumped out.
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Heavy rain: the situation in southern Austria remains tense
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Heavy rain: the situation in southern Austria remains tense
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