The Slovenian government has decided to ask the European Commission for help from the European Solidarity Fund after heavy rains led to massive flooding in about two-thirds of the country, the Slovenian news agency STA reported.
Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said the damage would most likely exceed half a billion euros, but given how badly the infrastructure was affected, the amount was likely to be significantly higher.
Floodwaters have begun to recede in the northern Slovenian regions hardest hit by the downpours that began on August 4. Landslides are the greatest danger now, as the heavy rains that continue today have flooded the soil, and many of the affected areas are mountainous, the STA agency notes.
Due to the danger of a landslide, 110 people were evacuated from the area of Koroshka Bela and along the Mezha River near the border with Austria, where rescuers were also fighting the effects of the flood, DPA news agency informed.
Slovenian rescue teams helped 186 locations overnight, pumping water and evacuating people from threatened buildings. They removed fallen trees, delivered food and medicine.
On Saturday evening, 500 residents were evacuated from the village of Dolnya Bistrica in the eastern part of the country, after the Mura river breached a protective embankment.
A total of 85 Dutch citizens were evacuated from flooded areas and were to be transported by bus to the Netherlands today, the Dutch news agency ANP reported. The group members are unharmed, but their cars have severe storm damage or are swept away by mud.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, five Dutch nationals who went missing on Saturday are safe. However, a father and son, aged 50 and 20, died during the storm under unclear circumstances, according to preliminary information.
The body of a Slovenian woman was found in a flooded area on Friday, and yesterday the body of a man was found near the flooded Sava River.
Many people in flood-affected areas are staying in temporary shelters until the crisis passes.
The level of the Mura River remains high but stable. The level of the Sava River, the largest river in Slovenia, is falling.
