Slovenia is beginning to assess the human and economic toll from flooding that’s inundated parts of the country as the Alpine nation of 2.1 million took the brunt of record rainfall in central Europe.
(Bloomberg) — Slovenia is beginning to assess the human and economic toll from flooding that’s inundated parts of the country as the Alpine nation of 2.1 million took the brunt of record rainfall in central Europe.
At least six people have been killed and thousands forced to evacuate their homes in what Prime Minister Robert Golob called “the biggest natural disaster in the recent history of Slovenia.” To effectively rebuild Slovenia will mean revising the budget, Golob said Monday evening on public broadcaster RTVSLO, adding: “Today we are measuring the damage in billions,” which significantly outstrips his first estimate of €500 million ($550 million) made over the weekend.
Shares of the largest Slovenian insurers, Zavarovalnica Triglav and Sava Re, have each lost more than 9% since Thursday, when heavy rains began.
Slovenia was most dramatically affected by flooding this month that also hit neighboring Croatia, Austria and Hungary. The government in Ljubljana took steps over the weekend to speed up aid for the hardest hit municipalities and intends to ask for European Union assistance.
As aid offers poured in, Golob told reporters on Friday that the flooding will “probably cause the greatest damages by natural disasters in the history of independent Slovenia,” referring to the nation’s breaking away from Yugoslavia in 1991.
(Updates headline and second graph with latest estimate on damages by PM Robert Golob)
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