Vienna [Austria], August 7: Emergency services in Slovenia and Austria were deployed in force on Sunday amid landslide warnings and other incidents caused by heavy rainfall and flooding since Friday.
Slovenian rescuers responded overnight in 186 locations, pumping out water and evacuating people from endangered buildings, removing fallen trees and delivering supplies of food and medicine.
On Saturday evening, 500 residents were evacuated from the village of Dolnja Bistrica in the east of the country after a dam burst caused flooding on the river Mura, also known as the Mur. A total of 85 Dutch citizens were also evacuated from flooded areas and were to be bussed to the Netherlands on Sunday, Holland's ANP news agency reported. The members of the group were unharmed, but their cars were badly damaged by the storm or swept away by mud.
According to the Foreign Ministry in Amsterdam, five Dutch people missing on Saturday were safely accounted for. However, a father and son aged 50 and 20 from Gouda died in unclear circumstances, according to preliminary information. Many people in the flood-affected areas were staying in temporary shelters until the crisis abates.
The level of the Mur, which rises in Austria, remained high but stable. By contrast, the level of the Sava, Slovenia's largest river, had dropped.
Although water levels were generally stabilizing, the high soil moisture increased the danger from landslides, the country's Geological Survey warned. It urged the population to look out for changes on the ground and in buildings, STA news agency reported.
Due to the landslide threat, 110 people were brought to safety near Koroka Bela and along the Mea river near the border with Austria, where rescuers were also battling the effects of the flooding.
Rain in affected areas of southern Austria has eased considerably since Saturday, but a number of sodden slopes were threatening to slide, according to the fire brigade.
Fire crews also went repeatedly to pump out flooded cellars, a spokesman in the province of Carinthia told Austria's ORF radio station.
Source: Qatar Tribune
