ZAGREB, May 16, 2019 – Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Wednesday visited Logorište, a flooded suburb of Karlovac, saying that despite the local rivers’ record high levels, water had not reached homes because one BoxBarrier by the Korana river and one by the Mrežnica had played a good flood defence role.
Plenković thanked everyone who had worked day and night to control the water at critical points, as well as the Croatian Waters company, firemen, police and local authorities for helping local residents.
He called the BoxBarriers an “effective” albeit temporary solution, saying work was under way to build a permanent flood defence system. He said Karlovac mayor Damir Mandić was talking with a technical European Union delegation today about funding for the 120 million euro project.
Environment Protection Minister Tomislav Ćorić said he was satisfied with the situation on the ground despite the fact that water had broken levies at some locations and was causing damage. He said the completion of a flood defence system would soon follow as nothing had been done over the past 30 years to deal with the overflowing of the Mrežnica and Korana rivers.
Croatian Waters director general Zoran Đurković said tenders worth 300-400 million kuna would be advertised this year for flood protection systems.
Biljana Željeznjak of Croatian Waters’ Karlovac office said the water level of all four rivers running through the town was falling but that emergency measures for the Korana remained in force.
More news about flooding can be found in the Lifestyle section.
