Water levels break records in many areas of Croatia

Following heavy rains, water levels broke records in various areas of the country - the Drava River near Botovo exceeded 6 meters, which is 30 centimeters higher than the previous record from 2014. The highest water levels were also recorded on the Mura and Sava rivers, so a state of emergency against floods is in effect in some municipalities. Sandbag embankments have been installed, but water has broken through in some places and flooded yards and roads. A small rest in the battle with the swollen rivers was provided by a momentary halt to the rain. 

Despite the efforts of emergency services and volunteers to install sandbag embankments, the Drava River flooded parts of Drnje.

“We used yesterday's day for flood defense through three lines in cooperation with the Croatian Waters Agency, which managed to buy us time to defend houses with embankments in Dravska Street, that was most threatened and critical,” said municipal leader Petar Dombaj.

Everyone is on alert, pointed out fire Chief Slavko Tucaković.

“Citizens are in their homes and if needed, they will be evacuated, naturally this road in Dravska Street has been cut off with water, and today works have begun to release more water into the Gliboki creek,” he said.

“It will surely be a difficult day, but luckily it's sunny so we hope that there won't be rain, but due the wave of water we expect during the day, we have to be constantly on alert,” said the commander of the Koprivnica-Križevci County Fire Association, Zvonimir Habijan.

The wave of water on the Drava River is also arriving in Virovitica-Podravina County, and according to forecasts, it could be bigger than the one in 2014.

“At this moment works are being done to place a sandbag embankment in Kapinci in the area of Sopje municipality, measuring 1200 meters in length. The most critical areas are in Kapinci and Novi Gradec, in the area of Gradina municipality, where we are also building a sandbag embankment. There we are defending the villages of Novi Gradec, Lanka, Leševo and the entire area of Gradina municipality,” said Deputy County Prefect Marijo Klement.

After this morning's record 543 centimeters, the Mura River in Mursko Središće is slowly dropping. The water did not penetrate into the city center; however, some yards were flooded.

“We expected it to halt during the night and unfortunately it didn't. But I am in contact with friends in Slovenia, 20 kilometers up river, in Veržej, the Mura dropped by half a meter. That is a good sign,” said Mayor Dražen Srpak.

“We feel the fatigue, we have been on duty all night, and we have set up shifts so people get some rest. But most of us are here,” said firefighter Stjepan Mesarić.

The record from 2014 was also broken on the Sava River in Dubrovčak, but the water level is now falling. It was critical in the municipality of Rugvica.

“Numerous places were threatened, but thanks to our firefighters we managed to take care of everything and welcome a safe morning. It was most critical in Hrušćica where the flood bank started to give in the lower part, and a box barrier measuring more than 200 meters had to be built,” said municipal leader Mato Čičak.

Source: HRT