Severe storms sweep through Nova Gradiška and Osijek

Severe storms swept through much of continental Croatia over the past 24 hours, causing flooding in Nova Gradiška on Friday and in Osijek on Saturday.

Residents of Nova Gradiška spent much of the day cleaning up debris after severe rain storms last night flooded dozens of homes. Around 170 liters of rain per square meter came down in a very short period of time. Firefighters had plenty of work on their hands. The forecast calls for more rain, the local civil defense task force has prepared sandbags in case of more flooding.

"It was terrible. In five minutes the entire cellar was full of water. That's never happened before,” said Nova Graiška resident Žekjo Radešić, as he cleaned out his cellar on Saturday morning.

Firefighters were overwhelmed with calls throughout the night and morning.

"By my rough estimate it was more than 80 calls. The data is still being complied because we were receiving calls in various ways, privately and through the 112 emergency center in Slavonski Brod," said Nova Gradiška Fire Brigade Commander Tomislav Orlovac.

Severe weather passed through the Osijek area on Saturday afternoon. High winds and heavy rain tore the roof off of one building, uprooted trees and flooded roads. Most of the damage was minor and no one was seriously injured.

“Horrible! Things were breaking, falling…It was awful. I had to shut everything off. My kitchen was flooded. There was thunder and lightning everywhere. The trees in my yard are down,” said Osijek resident Ljubica Švitek, describing the scene.

The local 112 emergency dispatcher received more than 430 calls within half an hour.

There is an orange severe rain warning in effect this weekend for Osijek, Zagreb, Karlovac, and Gospić. A red warning is in effect for Sunday in the Posavina region. Croatia’s national weather service says more heavy rain and thundershowers are expected, which could cause flash flooding.