Situation at Mura levee break remains alarming

The river discharge - the volume of water flowing through the channel - has increased from 1,350 cubic metres per second to around 1,420 cubic metres, according to the latest data by the Environment Agency.

"We cannot believe the river discharge continues to rise. Unfortunately all negative options are on the table," Črešnovci Fire Brigade commander Miroslav Vuk told the news portal N1 this morning.

About 500 people in ten villages were ordered to evacuate last night. About 50 decided to stay put despite the appeal for evacuation.

Firefighters managed to partially plug the gap on the levee with concrete blocs to reduce the discharge, but Vuk said they were becoming powerless because the terrain is completely wet making it difficult to access the levee break.

Vuk later told the STA the overflow had partially been diverted away from villages to farmland, but the water is rising so much it is flowing back towards the village of Dolnja Bistrica and neighbouring villages.

Črenšovci Mayor Vera Markoja told the STA some of the evacuees have been put up in a local gym while others have decided to stay with their relatives.

The head of the Pomurje branch of the Civil Protection Force, Martin Smodiš, told the STA that other areas along the Mura were also at risk since the river continued to rise.

"The maximum discharge in August 2005 was 1,350 cubic metres per second, now it has exceeded 1,400," he said in reference to flooding that hit the area in 2005.

While the situation is gravest in Dolnja Bistrica, villages including Hotiza, Kot, Gaberje, Zgornji Lakoš, Spodnji Lakoš and even Petišovci and Benica may be at risk, according to Smodiš.

The Mura, the last of Slovenia's major rivers without hydroelectric power plants, flows through the flattest area of Slovenia and any discharge over the levees has the potential to spread far and wide.