Freak storm causes substantial damage in Zreče
Zreče, 17 August - Zreče, a spa town at the foot of the Pohorje mountain range in the north-east of the country, suffered extensive damage after being hit by a localised thunderstorm with heavy rain on Wednesday afternoon.
Celje
A swollen river.
Photo: Urška Kristan Kastner/STA
File photo
The heavy rainfall caused a sudden surge in streams. Several roads were damaged and four buildings were flooded. Two houses had to be evacuated due to the risk of landslides, Mayor Boris Podvršnik said.
Talking with the STA on Thursday, he said the storm caused a surge in torrents and triggered landslides in a matter of 30 minutes. The Dravinja and Ljubnica burst their banks.
Two local roads remain closed, while the others have since been cleaned up and reopened to traffic. The mayor said that a sawmill had been flooded as well.
While work continues on the ground to assess the state of structures and buildings and the risk of landslides, the mayor estimated the damage at roughly EUR 2 million, which is mostly damage to roads and riverbeds.
Due to landslides, the road from Zreče to the Rogla resort was unpassable for a while yesterday, but has since reopened.
The thunderstorm also caused some damage in the nearby municipality of Vitanje, but Mayor Andraž Pogorevc told the STA that it had been repaired.