Slovenia begins demolitions post-floods

It was an "emotional day" for the former occupant as the first of some 300 homes slated for demolition after the August 2023 floods was torn down in Prevalje in the north of Slovenia.

"Even though I knew it had to come to this, for one story to come to an end, it's still not easy for me," said Cveta Berložnik, who had lived in the house for 26 years before part of it was washed away by the swollen Meža river, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

After the floods, she first moved in with her friends before finding her new home in an apartment in Ravne na Koroškem in October 2023. She has received compensation from the state for the house that is now being demolished.

Hers is one of what are currently 289 houses for which experts have determined to be unfit to live in due to damage sustained or at risk from floods or landslides in the wake of the August 2023 disaster.

While procedures are still ongoing for further houses, Boštjan Šefic, the head of the government post-flood reconstruction office, said the final demolition list is likely to comprise 350 buildings.

The state-owned company DSU, which is in charge of buying off and demolishing the damaged or at-risk houses, has so far signed contracts to buy 181 houses slated for demolition with another 19 ongoing.

Of those contracts, 138 have been put forward to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning for the payment of €41 million in total, DSU chief executive Mitja Križaj said.

"As of today, we are entering the final phase of our activities, which includes the demolition of the buildings taken over," Križaj said.

The occupants have a right to continue to live in the homes at their own risk for one year from the date they sign the contracts, after which the buildings are taken over by the state.

Once the demolition is completed and the plots are cleared, the land along watercourses will be taken over by the Water Agency.

Šefic said Slovenia was much better prepared for potential new floods now, with a lot of work done on watercourses and major rehabilitation projects in the pipeline as well as work done on national zoning plans to improve resilience to climate change.

As one of the most important and wisest measures he labelled withdrawing from areas at risk of floods or landslides.