WEBVTT

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Greetings.
Welcome to today's statement,

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where the situation with floods
and landslides in Slovenia

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will be presented
by meteorologist Blaž Šter,

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hydrologist
Janez Polajnar,

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the director of the
Water Agency Neža Kodre,

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and the commander
of Civil Protection, Srečko Šestan.

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I would like to invite
our first speaker to the podium.

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Go ahead, Mr. Šter.

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Greetings.

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Worsening conditions
are now drawing to a close.

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The clouds are clearing up,
but we are expecting

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another weather disturbance
in the afternoon.

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A storm line will form that will
first cover the northwest

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and then move
toward the southeast.

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This storm line could be
accompanied by strong gusts of wind

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and short showers,
and tiny hail in Primorska.

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Such a storm line would not
be unusual in a normal summer,

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but in this current situation
it can also cause some problems.

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There will be a strong north wind
at the seaside,

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but it will only last
for about an hour or two

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and it will quickly abate
toward the evening.

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We are expecting significantly
milder weather in the coming days,

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perhaps some storms tomorrow.
It will be fairly cold,

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temperatures will rise
in the second half of the week,

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but we expect no major rain
at least until the end of the week.

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Thank you, Mr. Šter.
Are there any questions? Marta?

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What does this mean
for the flooded areas?

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We can expect 20
or rather 10 to 30 mm of rain.

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Hydrologist Janez Polajnar
will tell you more.

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Thank you.
Mr. Janez Polajnar, go ahead.

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Greetings.

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As predicted, the centre of the
flooding has moved to Pomurje,

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along the river Mura,

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which began rising further
in the morning

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and at Gornja Radgona
we are recording

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record-high water flow
of the river Mura, 1450 m3/s.

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The Mura's water flow came naturally
from Austria due to the rain.

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We are in contact with Austrian
and Steiermark services,

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who assure us that their
hydroelectric power stations

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did not cause the increased
water flow in Slovenia.

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We are expecting this water to run
across Slovenia within 24 hours,

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including across
the damaged part of the levee.

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The director of the Water
Agency will say more on this.

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But there are areas
that are still flooded.

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especially at the junction
of the Sava and Krka rivers.

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The Sava still has a high
water flow, about 2500 m3/s.

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It is diminishing,
but this is a very high water flow,

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while Krka has settled
at approximately 280 m3/s,

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which is not
an extremely high water flow,

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but because of the
damming effect at the junction

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due to the Sava
being so high,

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the outflow of the Krka
into the Sava is slower

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and flooding there
is still ongoing.

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Thankfully rivers elsewhere
are declining

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and returning to their beds.

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We are expecting storms to pass
over us in the next few hours

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and because of the vulnerability
of the terrain due to recent floods

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we are expecting rainwater
to stagnate in multiple areas,

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even in areas
where this is not usual.

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Smaller torrents
may also appear quickly

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in all of the areas affected
by floods in the past days,

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Gorenjska, Koroška,
Central Slovenia, around Ljubljana,

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Pomurje and toward the evening
Dolenjska as well.

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Thank you.
-Thank you.

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Director of the Water Agency,
Neža Kodre, go ahead.

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Greetings from me as well.
The Slovenian Water Agency

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and out water management
public services

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are still in full activation
and in the field.

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Even though
watercourses are settling,

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we still needed
intervention measures

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to increase river flow.

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All of these areas
are experiencing landslides,

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which require
intervention measures.

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At the same time, the lower stream
of the Sava rose during the night,

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which caused some flooding,

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and intervention measures
were needed there as well.

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The levees along the Mura river
were the most critical,

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a good 10 metre section
of the levee broke.

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Despite all predictions
by experts and others,

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the Water Agency
and the public services

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fought with this
part of the levee all night,

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carried sandbags
and materials,

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and with the help of the army
and their helicopter

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managed to successfully
repair the levee.

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The levees on the Mura
are currently functioning.

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We also increased control
along the Mura levees,

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where the levees
are a little lower or missing.

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We are also actively cooperating
with the Civil Protection

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regarding measures and operations
in this field.

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As said, the Mura will
remain high in this area.

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It will keep rising for two hours,
and, as Mr. Polajnar said,

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we then expect it
to stay high for 12 hours

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and then very slowly
begin to diminish.

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We expect 48 more hours
of activity on the Mura

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and we hope we keep
being as successful.

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That is all, thank you.

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Mr. Srečko Šestan
will now come on.

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He will also tell you
how you can help.

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Tomorrow
a special app will launch

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with all the information
on the aid you wish to offer.

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You can also view up-to-date
information on gov.si/poplave,

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as well as instructions

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on how to act in case of floods or
landslides. Go ahead, Mr. Šestan.

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Thank you.

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I will first add to the
information that Petra provided

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regarding offering help
in the form of physical labour,

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machinery
and other options.

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We assigned this task

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to the regional command
of Notranjska and the Coast

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in order to relieve the workers
that are working here.

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A special app
will launch tomorrow

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in which everyone
will be able to choose

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from a list of items or activities
that they wish to offer.

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Through this app
we will also have

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a direct link to those in the field
that require aid.

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This will be managed by the members
of the two aforementioned regions

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in order to relieve the workers
in Ljubljana and elsewhere.

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I have some news. Some are bad,
some are thankfully good.

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I will point out two regions

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and touch on the third
that Neža mentioned.

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The two regions
that are critically inaccessible

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are Koroška
and the Upper Savinja Valley.

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In Koroška, the attempt
to break through to Črna

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has failed.

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We are still looking for a way
to get to Koroška by land.

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We will find one. We have to,
otherwise we will make one.

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Of course,
air transport works.

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We still have six helicopters
available to us,

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three each
from the army and the police.

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Urgent transport
is being carried out that way.

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Despite some saying otherwise,
mobile phones in the area do work.

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This may have
nothing to do with us,

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but it means a lot
to those affected.

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Communication works.

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We also reinforced
our office in Koroška

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with people
from other regions,

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so we have a special officer
in Koroška for the Črna area

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with whom we are
in constant contact

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so we can act the moment
we open up a land route.

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We did get some people
there yesterday,

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we moved a number of soldiers
and some equipment there,

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but we all know that this
is too little for that area.

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In the Upper Savinja Valley,
we are assured and we hope

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that the road to Luče
will be cleared today

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and we will have a route to the
upper part of the Savinja Valley.

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Plumbing in Mozirje,
Nazarje and Rečica ob Savinji

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is also being fixed.
I am certain they will succeed.

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We are still sending generators and
everything else where it is needed.

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Mostly still by air,
but it is getting there.

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Now, to touch on the subject
that Neža talked about,

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the levees on the Mura.
Late last night, at 11 p.m.,

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we tried to help
with the army's helicopters.

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They even provided two cooks,
but we were unable to send them in.

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We waited
until the morning

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and one of the helicopters
came to help,

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while the other
got another assignment.

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We did have
a few problems

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because the concrete blocks
that they had there were too heavy.

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But they quickly found
lighter concrete blocks

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and the helicopter was able
to put them in place

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and fill up the spaces
with additional sandbags.

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The leak was therefore
at least temporarily fixed.

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We also preventively evacuated
three villages in the area,

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Dolnja Bistrica,
Hotiza and Kot.

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In three villages downriver we made
preparations for an evacuation,

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meaning people were at home,
but on stand-by,

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in Gaberje,
Benica and Petanjci.

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I mean the evacuation of the parts
between the road and the Mura,

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not the entire villages.

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We did one more thing
after our meeting at 10 a.m.,

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we prepared an outline for
a request for international aid.

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This went to the office
of the Prime Minister.

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We proposed two options.
We asked for helicopters,

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and we will ask for infantry
in inter-army communication.

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We will also ask for machinery
and prefabricated bridges.

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This will go through the
EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

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If the response
does not meet expectations

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we will go through
bilateral agreements.

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I am sure we will receive
this equipment shortly.

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Of course, we also asked for
engineers along with the equipment

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because we do not know
how to operate this machinery.

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Thank you.

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For everyone who wishes
to offer physical help,

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do not go into the field,

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the conditions are not good enough
to help people in the field yet.

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It is sunny in Ljubljana,
but we are expecting another storm.

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Conditions are not good enough to
go help immediately as volunteers.

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Let's move
on to the questions.

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Mr. Šestan, regarding the workers
that Petra just mentioned,

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what sort of physical labour
will you require?

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You can see yourselves that the
scale of this event is very big.

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I am certain we will require
many people

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who will be able to help
perform simple jobs.

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We do not expect
any specialists,

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we will find
specialists ourselves.

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Some specialists may even
volunteer this way.

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I cannot say that we will use
everyone who offers help,

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but this app and database
will allow us

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to perhaps call someone in 10 days
and ask if they can come help.

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We will know more tomorrow.

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I think it will help us enormously.
-Will transportation be organised?

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People will also specify in the app
whether they need transportation.

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We hope that
everyone who would like to help

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will be self-sufficient
for at least that one day.

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If we, for instance,
send 300 people to Črna,

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we cannot ask that they cook
lunch for those 300 people in Črna.

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There will also be a special
press conference tomorrow

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with Sandi Curk, who will explain
how to use the app. -Yes.

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Today we are only
announcing it.

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Some say that certain emails do not
work. We also have a lot of work

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and we are asking
for your understanding.

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We will present the app tomorrow,
when it launches.

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Thank you.
One more question,

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The mayor of Dravograd
wrote a public letter

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asking employers to allow their
workers to restore their homes.

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What does this mean?

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You will have to ask him. I do not
know what you or he meant.

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It means that they will not go to
work until restorations are done.

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Don't ask me this, please.

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Any other questions,

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seeing as only Marta Razboršek
from RTV is here with us?

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No? Thank you all.
We will keep you updated.

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Thank you for understanding,
have a nice day.