The 2010 Slovenia floods, on the weekend of 17–19 September 2010, were caused by heavy

rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water ...

s in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, resulting in one of the worst

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

s in the country's history. Among the regions affected were the capital

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

, the

Central Sava Valley The Central Sava Valley ( sl, Zasavje) is a valley in the Sava Hills and a geographic region along the Sava in central Slovenia, now constituting the Central Sava Statistical Region. The region consists of three municipalities: Zagorje ob Savi, ...

Laško Laško (; german: Tüffer) is a spa town in eastern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Laško. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. The municipality is now included in the Savinja Statistical Region. The town is loca ...

, the

Slovene Littoral The Slovene Littoral ( sl, Primorska, ; it, Litorale; german: Küstenland) is one of the five traditional regions of Slovenia. Its name recalls the former Austrian Littoral (''Avstrijsko Primorje''), the Habsburg possessions on the upper Adria ...

and

Lower Carniola Lower Carniola ( sl, Dolenjska; german: Unterkrain) is a traditional region in Slovenia, the southeastern part of the historical Carniola region. Geography Lower Carniola is delineated by the Ljubljana Basin with the city of Ljubljana to the n ...

. Initial damage was estimated to reach €15 million. Three people died. In Ljubljana, the river

Gradaščica The Gradaščica is a river in Slovenia. The river is long. It begins in Polhov Gradec at the confluence of Little Creek ( sl, Mala Voda) and Big Božna Creek. Near Vrhovci it is joined by Horjulščica Creek (also known as Horjulka Creek). Not ...

– together with the

Mali Graben The Mali Graben ( sl, Mali graben) is a creek and a natural branch of the Gradaščica River in southwest Ljubljana. It flows south of and parallel to the Gradaščica and is the largest affluent of the river Ljubljanica. It is also known as ''Str� ...

stream – flooded several parts of the

Vič District The Vič District (; Slovene: ''Četrtna skupnost Vič''), or simply Vič, is a district () of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It encompasses the western part of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It is named after the former village of Vič ...

, and record water levels were reached. Several transformers were shut down to prevent accidents, leaving some 3,000 people without electricity. In

Zagorje ob Savi Zagorje ob Savi (; german: Sagor,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 96. ''Seger an der Sau'') is a town in the Central Sava Valley in ce ...

, a great part of the town was flooded by the

Sava The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...

river and several landslides were reported. The town of Laško was flooded by the

Savinja The Savinja () is a river in northeast Slovenia which flows mostly in the Upper and Lower Savinja Valley ( sl, Zgornja in Spodnja Savinjska dolina) and through the cities of Celje and Laško. The Savinja is the main river of the Savinja Alps (Sl ...

river and road connections were cut by the flood waters. In the Littoral region, the Rižana and

Dragonja The Dragonja (; it, Dragogna) is a long river in the northern part of the Istrian peninsula. It is a meandering river with a very branched basin and a small quantity of water. It has a pluvial regime and often dries up in summer. It features ...

rivers flooded several roads, closing all three border crossings with

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

in the region. Parts of

Portorož Airport Portorož Airport ( sl, Aerodrom Portorož) is the smallest of three international airports in Slovenia. It is located near the village of Sečovlje, south of Portorož, and less than from the Croatian border. The airport was opened on 27 Septe ...

and the Sečovlje salt fields were flooded as well. The

Vipava River The Vipava (in Slovene) or Vipacco (in Italian) or ''Wipbach'' / ''Wippach'' (in German) is a river that flows through western Slovenia and north-eastern Italy. The river is in length, of which 45 km in Slovenia. After entering Italy it j ...

was flooding in the northern Littoral. The Sava, Krka and

Kolpa The Kupa () or Kolpa ( or ; from la, Colapis in Roman times; hu, Kulpa) river, a right tributary of the Sava, forms a natural border between north-west Croatia and southeast Slovenia. It is long, with its border part having a length of and th ...

rivers flooded in the Lower Carniola. The towns of

Krško Krško (; german: Gurkfeld) is a town in eastern Slovenia. It is the seat of the City municipality of Krško. The town lies on the Sava River and on the northwest edge of the Krško Plain ( sl, Krško polje), which is part of the larger Krka Flat ...

Brežice Brežice (; german: Rann ) is a town in eastern Slovenia in the Lower Sava Valley, near the Croatian border. It is the seat of the Municipality of Brežice. It lies in the center of the Brežice Plain ( sl, Brežiško polje), which is part of the ...

and Otočec were partially flooded. In

Upper Carniola Upper Carniola ( sl, Gorenjska; it, Alta Carniola; german: Oberkrain) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The centre of the region is Kranj, while other urban centers include Jeseni ...

, the town of

Žiri Žiri ( or ; formerly also ''Žir'', locally ''Žier'',Snoj, Marko. 2009. ''Etimološki slovar slovenskih zemljepisnih imen''. Ljubljana: Modrijan and Založba ZRC, pp. 490–491. german: Sairach) is a town in northwestern Slovenia. It is the admi ...

was affected by the Poljane Sora. In

Železniki Železniki (; german: Eisnern''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 66–67.) is a small town in Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipal ...

, a town that was most affected in the floods exactly three years before, no bigger problems were reported. Some parts of Croatia along the Sava river were also flooded, around 20 people were evacuated around

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

. By Monday, 20 September, the water levels began to decrease, although landslides in some regions remained a threat. Four days after the flooding, the area of the

Municipality of Dobrepolje The Municipality of Dobrepolje (; sl, Občina Dobrepolje) is a municipality in Slovenia. It lies in a karst valley approximately south of the Slovenian capital Ljubljana. The administrative seat of the municipality is in Videm. The area is par ...

was still 6 meters above the usual water-level.

Gallery

File:Poplave2010.JPG, Slovenia was extensively flooded on the morning of 18 September 2010 File:Popl2.JPG, Floods affected more than 60 percents of the country File:Popl4.JPG, Many settlements were so flooded that people used boats as transport

References

External links

{{Commons category, 2010 floods in Slovenia
Videos from the flooded parts of Ljubljana

Eumetrain Synoptic Overview
Floods in Slovenia

Floods