The high river water levels in Croatia are under control and there are no alarming situations thanks to preventive measures taken by flood protection services, the deputy head of the national Protection and Rescue Department, Stjepan Huzjak, said at a news conference in Zagreb on Sunday.
The area from Medsave to Strmec Samoborski, west of Zagreb, has been flooded and makeshift dikes have been built since there are no classical dikes in the area. The local population will be evacuated if necessary.
The second flooded area covers the municipality of Brdovec and its settlements Drenje, Zdenci, Javorje and Kljuc Brdovecki, west of Zagreb, in the area bordering on Slovenia. Some 15 people have been evacuated from their homes in Javorje until conditions allow for their safe return, said Huzjak.
A dozen houses have been flooded in Gmajna, in Krapina-Zagorje County. A local road and the border crossings Mihanovic Dol and Plavic have been closed.
Flood protection measures have also been introduced in the Lonjsko Polje area of Sisak-Moslavina County.
Early on Sunday morning, a number of cars and basements were flooded in the Umag area of Istria County near the border with Slovenia. In Novigrad, another town in Istria, a local senior citizens home and a new sports hall were flooded. The border crossings of Kastel and Plovanija were closed to traffic.
Huzjak said that a new flood wave, expected to arrive in Zagreb from Slovenia this evening, would affect mostly the area of Medsave, Strmec Samoborski and Brdovec, where flood protection measures would be stepped up to the maximum.
The situation in Slovenia in the night between Saturday and Sunday was critical in many areas due to a heavy rainfall, but meteorologists said on Sunday the weather would normalise and the water level in rivers would start to fall, notably in western and central Slovenia.
Several thousand households in Ljubljana's Vic district are still under water, with power lines having been cut off after the Gradascica stream spilled over.
The situation was also critical in Zagorje Ob Savi and Lasko near Celje, as well as in the Ajdovscina area, which has been flooded by the Vipava River.
Water levels in most rivers in central and western parts of Slovenia were stagnating on Sunday, and the rivers were expected to return to their beds by afternoon.
The Slovenian media said that all three border crossings with Croatia in Istria were closed last night due to floods.
