Slovenia finds itself grappling with the aftermath of devastating floods, caused by relentless torrential rains, which have resulted in an estimated damage of 500 million euros ($550m).
The death toll in Slovenia from days of heavy rain and flooding rose to six on Monday. On Sunday, rescue teams recovered the body of a man from the Temenica river. Another man was discovered dead after reportedly falling into a cesspit while participating in the clean-up operations near the town of Kamnik. Earlier on Friday, two Dutch climbers died in the mountains near Kranj and a woman succumbed to the floods in Kamnik. On Saturday, a man was found dead on the Sava embankment in Ljubljana.
The floods were the "worst natural disaster ever to hit Slovenia," said Prime Minister Robert Golob after attending the National Security Council meeting on Saturday. "The damage will be unimaginable, practically two-thirds of Slovenia is affected," he added, to address the magnitude of the situation.
Slovenia requested assistance from the EU and NATO to bring the situation under control. Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, will arrive in Slovenia on Wednesday to visit the affected areas, while NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg engaged in a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Golob to express the Alliance's support for Slovenia and its people. The Slovenian government’s appeal included the request for heavy machinery for debris removal, engineering teams, heavy military helicopters, temporary bridges, and the provision of road transportability.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Robert Golob, accompanied by Minister of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning Uroš Brežan and Commander of the Civil Protection of the Republic of Slovenia Srečko Šestan, visited the flood-affected areas in three municipalities within the Gorenjska region: Škofja Loka, Radovljica, and Medvode. Golob reaffirmed that Slovenia had already requested aid through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism as well as from neighbouring countries.
In the neighbouring country of Austria, around 80 people were evacuated from the southern region of Carinthia due to flash floods. Tragically, one person died when two people fell into a river off an eroded bank in Carinthia. Despite the rescue efforts, only one could be saved, while the other person’s remains were recovered.
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