WEBVTT

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Greetings from
the Slovenian Environmental Agency.

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Today's updated meteorological and
hydrological warning will be

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provided by Branko Gregorčič
and Janez Polajnar.

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Representative from the Water
Directorate Rok Penec

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and Civil Protection Commander
Srečko Šestan are here as well.

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They will share their information,
so Branko, please.

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Welcome. I would start by giving
an overview of the current situation.

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As expected, the storms started to
circle along the western coast of

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Istria in the morning hours, also
travelling across Slovenian Istria

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towards Goriška and Posočje.

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This is the first event,
which is still ongoing.

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We expect this storm activity to
continue for a few hours mainly over

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western Slovenia, but then in the
early afternoon and later in the

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afternoon and evening, the bulk of
the activity will move mainly over

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central Slovenia.

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So the area we are most concerned
about is somewhere between Snežnik

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and the Kamnik Alps, where the
heaviest showers are expected in the

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afternoon and evening.

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In these areas, we can of course
expect a rapid increase

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in torrential downpours.

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Due to the vulnerability of the
areas affected by flooding earlier

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this month, we have issued the
highest level of warning for these

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areas, while the rest of the
country has maintained an

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amber weather warning.

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Due to the cyclone that will
persist over the Gulf of Genoa, we

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are expecting heavy precipitation
again tomorrow, especially in the

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second half of the day. Although it
will not be as extreme as we can

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expect today, we have also raised
the weather warning for most of

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Slovenia by one level for tomorrow,
due to the expected rain and local

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thunderstorms. So the event will
take place in two parts, the first

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one this afternoon and evening,
where there could be some

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really intense downpours, and also
some wind and hail storms in the

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east of Slovenia.

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Tomorrow's event is more likely to
cover most of the country at the

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same time, i.e.

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rain. Moderate to heavy rain with a
chance of isolated showers due to

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thunderstorms. But then on
Wednesday the situation slowly calms

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down and the second half of the
week shows partly clear and

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unproblematic weather.

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Thank you very much. Janez, I would
also like to ask for a hydrological

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warning.

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Hello! So, as we have heard, the
event will be held in two parts.

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Today's part of the day will be
more intense, so we can also expect

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an increase in torrential downpours
and backwater flooding, especially

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in basins such as
those mentioned before.

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These are the basins between
Snežnik and the Kamnik Alps, the

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Kamnik-Savinja Alps and the
Karavanke Alps.

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The centre of gravity of the
torrential events may thus be in the

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Ljubljanica river basins, i.e.

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in this part of Notranjska, the
inner part of the Ljubljanica basin,

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through the Polhograjski Dolomites
into the Škofjeloško hills and then

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into Gorenjska.

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In fact, these tributaries of the
Sava, the left tributaries of the

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Sava from Jesenice via the Tržiška
Bistrica and the Kamnik Bistrica towards

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the Savinja. Torrential outbreaks
can be expected in all these

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valleys. And of course elsewhere in
the aforementioned mountains.

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Of course, because of these altered
conditions in these affected

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parts of the river basins, we do
not know exactly how the water will

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flow, so that is where the greatest
caution will be needed.

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It seems that the larger rivers like
the Sava and the Savinja will only drain

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this rainwater in their riverbeds.

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The focus of hydrological
developments today will be on the

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tributaries of the major rivers and
on these torrential watercourses

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and, of course, on flooding into
backwaters and rainwater.

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Well, tomorrow's events
will see the rain fall

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on an already soaked up ground.

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This means that in these vulnerable
areas, such as the Savinjska Valley,

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the Mežica Valley, we do not know
exactly how this rainfall will drain.

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In fact, it is these vulnerable
areas that concern us most.

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But major rivers will also rise,
for example the Drava and the Mura

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are also expected to spill, as
shown in these normal flood areas

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during the day.

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It looks like the Sava and the
lower Savinja are expected to stay

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in their channels.

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Thank you, Janez.

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I would ask the representative of the
Water Directorate to share his statement.

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Thank you very much. Greetings.

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On the basis of today's
hydrological forecast, the Slovenian

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Water Directorate will, of course,
implement to the fullest extent

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possible all those water management
measures that are strictly necessary

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to ensure the flow of water.

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Of course, as announced, there will
also be a greater degree of

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vigilance over those torrential
tributaries that could cause

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problems, as well as all the
machinery.

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In the event of a sudden rise in
water levels, these areas will be

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targeted, in particular to prevent
water from damaging free

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infrastructure, other infrastructure
and human health and lives.

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Thank you, Rok Penec.

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I would also like to ask the Civil
Protection Commander, Sreček Šestan,

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for his statement.

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Greetings. I've been repeating
myself all month, but I don't think

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it will do any harm to do it again.
All the residents, especially in those

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vulnerable areas
from the beginning of the month

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are warned to follow
what is happening,

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that they are monitoring
the radar picture, that they retreat

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in time. Because that is about the
only action we can take at this

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point in time for this type
of torrential flooding.

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I know that they did it on the
fourth of August,

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and I am grateful to them for that.

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Of course, I do not exclude other
parts of Slovenia, where there may

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also be such outbreaks, as Janez
says, so attention in other areas

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will not be superfluous, and I wish
that we all spend this day and

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tomorrow as normally as possible.

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Thank you very much. Thank you.

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Perhaps some further clarification
is needed.

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Does anyone have any questions?

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Can we compare this event
with the one that took place

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at the beginning of August?

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Yes, we will only be able to compare
these two events once this one is

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behind us, because we will be able
to compare the actual measured, say,

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rainfall amounts and intensities.

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In a way, they are related.

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Both are more autumnal or wintery
weather situations with a cyclone

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over the Mediterranean.

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The cyclone is now a little deeper,
but it won't be moving towards us as

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fast as first indicated.

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So what we're really worried about
here is a little bit more prolonged

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pours, especially this afternoon
and this evening, but with a

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different wind height direction.

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If the prevailing airflow was then
south-westerly, today it will be

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more southerly.

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So those rainfall maxima that
develop somewhere over Kvarner and

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then travel northwards from the
south may still cover slightly

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different areas than they did at
the beginning of August.

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When there is such a combination of
a cyclone and a convective

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precipitation type at summer
temperatures, it is very difficult

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to estimate the actual amount of
precipitation that will fall.

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Models can also vary considerably
and there is considerable

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uncertainty in the forecast.

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Out of an abundance of caution, of
course, we have actually gone some

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way to issuing warnings of
comparable severity to those issued

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at the time.

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We hope, however, that this event
will pass with fewer consequences.

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But we cannot be sure in advance.

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As far as the hydrological situation
is concerned, we can say that we are

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faced with some unknowns.

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The floods at the beginning of
August changed the landscape

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considerably, altering river
channels and their hinterlands.

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We do not know exactly how the
water will flow in these parts of

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the river basins, and that is what
worries us most, that we do not

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actually know at the moment
how the water will flow.

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However, we imagine that if the
channels are no longer established

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as they were before, if there are
landslides, avalanches, large

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deposits of shallows and floating,
compound events can occur.

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This means that rainfall causes
landslides, carrying sediments into

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riverbeds, and flooding along such
watercourses can be unpredictable.

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Thank you.

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Any other questions?

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Some of our measuring devices were
washed away and how we managed to

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replace them?

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Not all of them. We have not yet
been able to replace all the

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metering devices. But we have
restored the data stream from most

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of the stations that were damaged.

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I think 5 stations have been
physically taken away and we will

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get those back up
as quickly as possible.

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Thank you.

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We at the Agency will continue to monitor
meteorological and hydrological data.

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Tomorrow at 11:00 in the same
place, we will see you again

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with updates.
Thank you very much for now.