Kolpa river in flood, others swollen

Ljubljana – The water levels of rivers have increased overnight due to heavy rain, and the Kolpa river is flooding. Some other rivers, including the Ljubljanica and Krka, are likely to run over their banks as well. Most river levels will start to recede in the afternoon and will continue to do so in the coming days, the Environment Agency (ARSO) said.

Kolpa levels in the middle reaches stabilised during Friday night and started to decrease towards the morning. In the lower reaches, the levels have been still advancing, and the Kolpa was said to reach its maximum water level in the afternoon.

Also swollen are the Krka, which might overflow its banks during Saturday night, the Sava in the upper and lower reaches, the Savinja and the Draginja in the lower reaches.

Last night, the Ljubljanica tributaries were bursting their banks, in particular the Gradaščica, ARSO said. Today, the Ljubljanica has flooded the Ljubljana Marshes area.

Constant rain on Friday and in some places strong winds have been a cause of incidents across the country. Most of the flooding was caused by stormwater and rising rivers, and the winds blew off several roofs of buildings.

Underpasses were flooded, road traffic was restricted and many trees were felled, the Civil Protection and Disaster Relief Administration said.

Rising streams and torrents threatened a number of buildings, which firefighters secured with flood bags. Several landslides were triggered, closing roads.

The levels of the Sora river in Žiri, west of Ljubljana, were the highest in the past twelve years, the daily Dnevnik reported.

The area of Črnomelj in the south of the country was one of the worst hit, with a number of buildings and basements flooded.

In nearby municipalities of Osilnica and Kostel, which were badly hit by Kolpa flooding on Friday, the situation has calmed down somewhat overnight, but remains very serious.

Infrastructure there has been damaged to a large extent, the water supply system compromised in several areas and many houses flooded. The damage is extensive and will take a long time to repair, said Kostel Deputy Mayor Miran Briški.

Visiting the area in the afternoon, Defence Minister State Secretary Rudi Medved promised aid from the state. Mitigation support has been already activated. On Friday, pumps and flood bags were sent to the two municipalities, and today arrangements were made for the supply of dehumidifiers.

In the next phase, the state will help with the damage repair itself. “Among other things, we will try to speed up procedures so that the restoration can start as soon as possible,” Medved told the STA.

Heavy rain has continued there throughout the day, leading to road closures and practically cutting Osilnica off from the rest of the country, as the municipality’s Mayor Alenka Kovač put it.

The Kolpa river levels have receded, but there are fears of landslides and road collapses as the ground is very soggy, she said. Water has been removed from most of the flooded houses.

The Kostel area has been also hit by road closures as well as disruptions in the water supply system, so five to six villages have been left without water supply. A small power plant in a local village is destroyed, said Kostel Mayor Ivan Črnkovič.

Firefighters were deployed to 284 locations, and nine professional and 178 voluntary fire brigades were activated on Friday. The areas where the effort was needed most often were Ljubljana, Nova Gorica, Novo Mesto, Trbovlje, Celje and Postojna, the Civil Protection and Disaster Relief Administration said.

Rain has persisted in western, central and southern Slovenia today, according to ARSO. Heavy rainfall was forecast only for south-eastern Slovenia this morning. A red weather alert, ARSO’s highest, has remained in place only in that region.

Precipitation started tapering off from midday and is expected to stop across the country by the evening. Rain will persist the longest in the south-east.

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