Mura levee breaks, several villages evacuated
Črenšovci, 5 August - A levee along the Mura River in east Slovenia near Dolnja Bistica has broken and several villages are being evacuated, the Civil Protection and Disaster Relief Administration said Saturday evening.
The civil protection commander, Srečko Šestan, told TV Slovenija that the situation is deteriorating since the hole in the levee is getting bigger.
"The engineering services are trying to plug the hole but they are not succeeding with the machinery that they have at their disposal," he said.
They are now exploring the option of dropping concrete blocks from helicopters but they cannot do it because of the weather.
He said the evacuation had been ordered because "this is the only way to prevent casualties. If the water starts to sweep away the earth, the levee will collapse and the water surge will sweep through ten villages."
The Mura currently has the second highest water volumes in recorded history. Upstream in Austria the water level is still rising. "The situation is unpredictable," said Environment Agency hydrologist Janez Polajnar.
Črešnovci Mayor Vera Markoja told the news portal Sobotainfo that several fire brigades have been activated. They are filling bags with sand and shipping them to the break site.