The Environment Agency (ARSO) issued a red alert for the whole country on Sunday afternoon as persisting sleet and snow threaten to cause even further disruption to traffic and power supply. Some 120,000 homes nation-wide have been affected by blackouts, some of them going without power for more than two days.
The red alert is in force for Sunday, with people advised to follow recommendations issued by authorities and to be ready for emergency measures. The warning means a high risk of damage to property and even lives.
ARSO also issued an orange alert for the north-west of the country for Monday and Tuesday because of the high risk of avalanches.
The situation remains most critical in the area around Postojna and Pivka in the south-west, where some homes have been without power supplies since early on Friday morning.
Prime Minister Alenka Bratušek visited the area on Sunday, announcing that Slovenia would be asking for EU aid as there is not enough power generators in the country to substitute for distribution supply.
Power outages have also affected 70,000 homes in the broader Ljubljana region as well as in other parts of the country. The Loška dolina area in the south has been cut off for more than 50 hours.
Power maintenance workers, firefighters and civil rescue teams have been at work around the clock fixing broken power lines, cleaning up blocked roads and providing emergency relief.
Emergency wards at hospitals have also seen a huge surge in emergency cases. Hundreds of patients with injuries have received emergency care at the two main hospitals in Ljubljana and Maribor alone since Saturday.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport has issued an instruction to schools and kindergartens to cancel classes on Monday if they think the situation is not safe for the children and students.
Kindergartens and schools in the area of Pivka and Postojna and some other parts of the country were already closed on Friday, while students remained stranded overnight at a local school in Vojsko (W) before access was unblocked on Saturday.
Many roads are closed and train transport is heavily disrupted. Passenger trains have not been running between Ljubljana and Koper since Friday, while disruption and delays are also reported from elsewhere.
The sleet has caused an enormous damage to forests and orchards, but it is currently too dangerous for inspectors to assess the extent of the damage on the ground.
Source: SloveniaTimes
