Severe weather causes damage in parts continental and coastal Croatia

A series of storms passed through Croatia over the past 24 hours, hitting the central Croatian city of Petrinja, the coastal resort town of Zadar and the Island of Hvar. Damages appear to be mostly minor, and so far there have been no reports of injuries.

A strong storm hit the Petrinja area on Thursday morning, especially the village of Mošćenica, where hail destroyed orchards and gardens. Firefighters were dispatched on a number of emergency calls as the roofs of many houses sustained varying degrees of damage.

"It lasted for more than half an hour. There was a layer of hail this thick in the yard. I thought everything would freeze. We couldn't do anything, just pray to God that nothing else happens. A catastrophe. In my 73 years I've never seen anything like this. All of this behind me was covered in white," said one local.

Meanwhile, Zadar was hit with a severe storm on Wednesday night, with high winds toppling trees and littering the roads with debris. Large waves also washed a sailboat ashore, but luckily no one was injured. Local firefighters responded to several emergency calls in the course of the evening.

"Regarding the storm that hit Zadar County last night, firefighters had eleven interventions related to the removal of trees and branches that fell on roads and parked vehicles. We had one open space fire that was very quickly contained," said Zadar County Fire Chief Matej Rudić.

An unusually high tide hit the town of Stari Grad on the Island of Hvar on Wednesday night, with water up to thirty centimeters deep on the waterfront. Water flooded into houses, restaurants and cafes. The high tide was followed by a deep and sudden ebb of some sixty centimeters that left many boats washed ashore.

"In a very short time, the sea flooded the entire old city center, the waterfront, the streets, and all the buildings along the waterfront. We had numerous interventions, pumping water out of restaurants, cafes, and houses. There were also a lot of problems with boats whose ropes broke due to the force of the sea and scattered them in all directions," said the commander of the Stari Grad Volunteer Fire Department Nikša Dužević.

Officially known as a meteotsunami, this meteorological phenomenon is caused by micro-changes in air pressure that are most often experienced in elongated and shallow bays, especially if they are facing the direction of the tidal wave's arrival, as is the case with Stari Grad, where a rise in sea level of as much as 1.2 meters was recorded in the mid-19th century.

Source: HRT