The night storm with heavy rainfall in the Haloz area hit the municipality of Žetale the most and, according to mayor Matjaž Kopšet, caused extensive damage to public and private infrastructure. Photo: Municipality of Žetale
Night storm in Žetale: If we are left alone, we can just close the municipality
The night storm with heavy rainfall in the Haloz area hit the municipality of Žetale the most and, according to mayor Matjaž Kopšet, caused extensive damage to public and private infrastructure. As he said, around 50 landslides were triggered, and according to initial data, two state and one municipal bridge and individual road sections were damaged. The Minister of Environment and Spatial Affairs, Polona Rifelj, promised the mayor that the state would provide them with all the necessary assistance in eliminating the consequences.
Kopse also said that some residential and commercial buildings were also flooded. “Competent services, civil protection, fire brigades, road maintenance workers and the municipal administration are already on the ground and are implementing the first emergency measures to ensure the safety of people and to establish the transportability of transport connections,” the mayor of Žetala added.
At the same time, the municipality urges citizens to be careful, especially in areas of landslides, damaged roads and watercourses, as well as to take into account possible road closures and the instructions of the competent services. Since they will start collecting data on the damage caused, citizens are also asked to take photographs of the damage to buildings, land and other property before the start of rehabilitation and report it to the municipal administration.
“At this moment, our priority is to ensure the safety of people, review the situation on the ground and establish conditions for the fastest possible rehabilitation of the consequences of the storm,” Kopse said. According to him, citizens will be regularly informed about all further measures and findings. Already in the morning, they will hold a crisis meeting with the fire brigade, civil protection and maintenance workers of municipal and national roads. After the meeting, the mayor also appeared in front of the public, describing the situation as catastrophic and adding that the municipality may be closed down if it is left alone to remedy the consequences. “We have information from the commander of civil protection, who at the same time forwarded data to the RS Environment Agency, that 174 liters of rainfall per square meter fell in our area. This means a huge amount of water that no culvert, no canal and no bridge can absorb. It was a completely extraordinary amount of rainfall. I live in the center of the municipality myself and I couldn’t even leave my home at the first moment, because a river literally flowed through Žetale along the main road,” he said.
According to the mayor, the night’s downpours hit their municipality the hardest, as much as 117 liters of rain per square meter fell in a short time. The sports field at the elementary school, where a plastic surface was installed last year, was also damaged. “The damage is probably in the millions of euros, and the municipality itself will not be able to repair it,” said Kopše, emphasizing that the first response of the state was positive, as representatives of the relevant ministries had already contacted him. On the phone, they discussed the elimination of the consequences with the Minister of Environment and Space, Polona Rifelj. The minister promised that the state would provide them with all the necessary help, the ministry announced.
A lot of damage was also caused to private buildings, in Čermožiše, according to the data collected so far, a house is said to be at risk due to the landslide.
Storm water that flooded the basement of a residential building at night was also reported from Kozmince in the neighboring municipality of Podlehnik and from Gorišnica.
State aid
The first assessments indicate a large amount of damage that will exceed the capabilities of the municipality. Therefore, the representatives of the Office for Reducing the Consequences of Natural Disasters at the Ministry of the Environment and Space advised the municipality how to proceed in the damage assessment procedures in the event of a natural disaster. Damage assessment data is collected by the Administration for Protection and Rescue. If the total damage exceeds 0.3 per thousand of planned revenues of the state budget, the government declares a natural disaster, and the ministry prepares a program to eliminate the consequences of the natural disaster.
Representatives of the Directorate for Water are also on the ground, because in the area of the Rogatnica stream and its smaller torrential tributaries between the municipalities of Žetale and Videm, watercourses were flooded at night due to a local storm. As a result of drifting, dams appeared on individual culverts and bridge openings, which caused water to overflow. According to the initial findings, damage to the water infrastructure was also recorded, the ministry stated.
On the basis of a meteorological or hydrological report, the Directorate for Water declared an increased level of danger for Slovenia in the Drava basin. In the morning, the concessionaire for the implementation of the mandatory national public utility service of water management sent an intervention team to the affected area to inspect the situation on the ground.
Representatives of the ministry and the directorate will continue their inspections in the coming days and prepare a plan for additional emergency remedial measures. Based on findings on the ground, the necessary emergency measures will be implemented during the increased level of threat in accordance with the Water Act.
