Croatia likely to avoid catastrophic flooding ravaging other parts of Europe

Croatia does not appear to be in any serious danger of the kind of flooding we are seeing in other European countries, where the death toll has risen to 21 people since the weekend. 

Water levels on Croatia's rivers are rising slowly, especially on the Drava, Mura, and Danube. The Mura and Drava are not expected to cause any problems but flooding authorities are working to prepare the groundwork if the situation worsens in the Danube. The Mura is currently at lower levels than expected, local officials say.

"Storm Boris turned eastward, pouring much more water into the Danube river basin than the Mura basin. We can see that everything is under control here. The water level is lower than projected. I think that this time, we managed to avoid the whole thing," says the Mayor of Mursko Središće, Dražen Srpak.

The greatest concern is with the Danube and to a lesser extent the Drava, where the peak of the current water wave is expected to arrive at the beginning of next week. The critical spots are expected the Zeleni Otok area on the Danube and the holiday home community at the mouth of the Drava River near Aljmaš.

Stjepan Šašlin, the head of Draž Municipality, says water levels on the Danube are also lower now than in previous years.

"It's still lower than in 2013 when the water was at 790 cm. We do expect the Zeleni Otok area to flood with about 1 meter of water. It won't be the first or last time the water is high in Zeleni Otok. Locals know what to do,” said Šašlin.

The national water management company, Hrvatske Vode, is expected to deliver sandbags there on Tuesday.

"The peak of the water is expected in Budapest on Saturday, for us it will be Wednesday. The uncertainty is over and we know exactly what we're dealing with," said the head of Hrvatske Vode, Zoran Đuroković, on Tuesday, adding that utility had already started working in the field on Sunday.