Vienna [Austria], August 6: Heavy rain and flooding have caused severe damage in Slovenia and Austria and are believed to have claimed the lives of three people.
Slovenian police were still investigating on Saturday whether three deaths were related to the extreme weather.
At least five Dutch citizens were missing amid the storms, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said, according to NOS radio station.
Two Dutch climbers died on Friday in the mountains near Kranj, presumably as a result of being struck by lightning, Slovenia's STA news agency reported, citing police.
Also on Friday, a woman died due to flooding in the town of Kamnik, 20km north of the capital Ljubljana, according to the report. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen assured Slovenia of the union's help. The damage in Slovenia was "heartbreaking," she tweeted.
The European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, JanezLenarcic, said he planned to discuss the matter with the government in Ljubljana on Saturday.
Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob spoke on Friday evening of "probably the largest damage caused by a natural disaster in the history of independent Slovenia," STA reported. Slovenia became independent in 1991.
He put the property damage Saturday at "more than $551.3mn." In Dravograd, near the border with Austria, 110 people, including 30 tourists, had to be brought to safety after a landslide Saturday.
In neighbouring Austria, more rainfall overnight hampered efforts of emergency services to deal with widespread flooding.
Although the rain was less heavy than expected, authorities evacuated two campsites in Austria's mountainous southern states of Carinthia and Styria as a precaution.
More than 2,500 firefighters and dozens of supporting soldiers were deployed, according to public broadcaster ORF.
A campsite at Lake Gosselsdorf and one at Lake Turnersee were at risk of flooding, according to the authorities.
Source: Qatar Tribune
