Water wave arrives in Slavonia; Virovitica-Podravina County under control

After the Drava River caused major problems in the upper reaches of Podravina, the peak of the water wave reached Slavonia and is passing through the Osijek-Baranja County.

The peak of the water wave passed through Donji Miholjac, where the water level of the Drava River is dropping, but a state of emergency is still in effect. They are now preparing downstream for the rise in water levels, and in Osijek the peak is expected tomorrow.

Igor Rotim reported for Croatian Television from Osijek. He said that the water level of the Drava in Belišće is rising. He added that there is no reason for great concern.

“The situation is serious because there is a large amount of water, the embankments are under pressure, but there are no points where the water could cause any major damage for now,” said Rotim.

He said that in the settlement of Karašica near Osijek, box barriers, which are 750 meters long, have been reinforced.

“The sandbag embankments were strengthened at the points where the force of the water is the greatest, but even there it is expected that the water could increase by about half a meter. It is still a defended area, but the road leading to the weekend settlement Karašica is closed as a precaution,” he pointed out.

As for the city of Osijek, he said that Croatian Waters Agency confirmed that there is no great danger.

In Virovitica-Podravine County, the situation is under control

Igor Andrović, Virovitica-Podravina county prefect, spoke about the damage and the floods.

Andrović said that it is safe to say that the situation in the county is under control.

“The biggest wave of water, we can say in the history of the river Drava, passed through the Virovitica-Podravina County. It is now in Osijek-Baranja County and I am glad that my colleagues are successfully fighting the biggest water wave,” he said.

He added that in the Virovitica-Podravina County, the water level of the Drava River is dropping.

“The level of the Drava is significantly decreasing, the water is receding and we can say that we have successfully overcome the water wave,” he pointed out.

He said that this year the water level of the Drava River near Terezino Polje was up to 30 centimeters higher than in 2014.

He pointed out that in a conversation with the Croatian Waters Agency, they are looking for a model to build a permanent embankment in Novi Gradec so that there would be no problems like there were in 2014 and this year.

He said that there were more than a hundred firefighters on the ground and said that a total of 65,000 sandbags and 2,100 meters of sandbag embankments were used in the area of Virovitica-Podravina County.

“There was no need for evacuation, there was no need, but we were ready for that,” Andrović said.

Source: HRT