ZAGREB, March 20, 2018 – Braving very low temperatures in the conditions of extremely poor visibility, four underwater divers worked on repairing a levee on Monday afternoon and thus prevented the collapse of the embankment at the confluence of the River Una with the River Sava near the town of Jasenovac, the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS) reported on Monday evening.
It took several hours for the four divers to unfold tarpaulins as barriers over the holes in the embankment so as to prevent the collapse of the wall, the HGSS reported.
The Sava River reached an all-time record high near Jasenovac and at 2 pm on Monday it had risen to a height of 920 centimetres.
The river has flooded some local roads, particularly on the Sisak-Popovača route near Brezovica. The army is building embankments in the most critical spots.
A state of emergency has been declared in the critical spots in the basins of the Kosinj Valley in Lika and in the valley of the Sava River following heavy snow-melt and rains.
Basements of dozens of houses in those areas have been flooded.
