August 6, 2023 – More inclement weather is affecting Croatia’s summer, with the River Mura in the north causing the most concern.
I have never known a summer like it, and the bad weather looks set to continue. As the River Sava banks rose to their highest levels since 2010, the current main threat is further north on the RIver Mura. An overview of the latest developments below, courtesy of the live updates from Index.hr – you can follow the latest here (Google Translate is your friend):
23 minutes ago
Most critical on the Mura, record water level: “The water is rising, we’re in for a fight”
Extraordinary flood defense measures have been established on the Mura River from the Mursko Središće measuring station, from Podturno to the border with Slovenia, Croatian Water announced, and a record water level of 537 centimeters was recorded through Mursko Središće.
An hour ago
The Kupa water level stopped rising after it reached more than five meters
The water level of the Kupa in Karlovac stopped rising at seven o’clock, when 535 centimeters were recorded, which means that it remained at the level of the preparatory state of flood defense, and there were no problems with torrents and landslides, except at the construction sites of communal infrastructure.
Although there were no very heavy rains, flash floods and landslides, which the Karlovac Civil Protection Headquarters was preparing for, the mayor of Karlovac Damir Mandić reported that the rain caused problems mainly only at the water supply and drainage construction sites, but that on Saturday all problematic areas were repaired.
There was also no spilling of the Kupa onto the roads, although it was clearly growing, at 20 and 30 centimeters per hour, and from Friday at 9 p.m. it was continuously growing and grew to more than five meters.
An hour ago
Sisak: Extraordinary flood protection measures are currently only in Dubrovčak on the Sava
Although the water levels of the Sava and Kupa rivers in the Sisak area are still rising, because the highest water wave is yet to come, no immediate danger of flooding is expected, and emergency measures have been declared so far only for the Dubrovnik area.
So far, extraordinary measures have been declared only for the area of Dubrovčak, on the Sava upstream from Sisak, where the water level at 8 am on Sunday was 803 centimeters. The Sava near Crnec, downstream from Sisak, is rising ten centimeters per hour.
The Kupa is also on the rise, but it is encouraging that in the upper reaches, near Karlovac, it has started to decline. In addition, Sava water is released into the Lonjsko Polje retention pond, which can receive large amounts of water.
However, all services in the Sisak area are on standby. In order not to leave anything to chance, the construction of rabbit embankments and the installation of box-barriers began already on Saturday in the area of Žirčica and Martinska Vesa in Posavina.
In the area of ORA in Sisak, where the embankment was breached due to previous floods, the containers, which could be at risk, were removed.
2 hours ago
Novosel: Water levels have started to drop, a record water level has been broken in Murski Središće
Tomislav Novosel from the Main Center for Flood Defense of Croatian Waters said that the water levels have started to drop and the water is receding. The top of the water wave of the Sava River in Zagreb was around midnight at +440 cm, about 10 cm was missing to introduce extraordinary measures for the city, that is 24-25 cm lower than in 2010.
“The wave of water is moving downstream where the embankments are a little lower. Extraordinary flood defense measures have been declared for the area of the municipality of Rugvica. Last night, extraordinary flood defense measures were declared on the Mur. There was a slightly larger inflow than expected, about 1400 m3, and in Murski Središć the record water level has been broken, the dikes are safe.
These are high water levels for the Mura, the Sava and the Drava, and you need to be alert for the next 24 hours. The weather is slowly calming down, significant amounts of precipitation are not expected. The cup is 2-3 meters lower than in May 2022, no problems are expected, nor in the Sisak area,” said Novosel, reports HRT.
2 hours ago
525 centimeters were measured in MurskioSredišće
The situation in Mursko Središć in Međimurje is extraordinary. At midnight, 525 centimeters were measured.
“Fortunately, we have this embankment that we built in 2021 with the funds of Croatian Waters and the European Union. So, it keeps the water from entering this large area where there are 30, maybe even 50 houses that would perish.
The worst situation is in the settlements of Marov, Žabnik and Vrhovljan. So, there are potentially 20 houses there that could be threatened if the water level rises above 550 cm,” said Martin Srša, mayor of the municipality of Sveti Martin na Muri, reports HRT.
2 hours ago
Two people rescued from the Oteret channel. They tried to break through the water with their car
The Directorate of Civil Protection announced that two people were rescued from the flooded Sava-Odra canal.
2 hours ago
The water level of the Mura near Murski Središće is still slightly increasing, the increase is much lower than last night
