Third-degree Flood Alert to Be Declared for Bratislava Stretch of Danube River

Bratislava, September 14 (TASR) - A third-degree flood alert will apply to the Bratislava stretch of the Danube River as of Sunday (September 15) morning, Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) announced following a meeting of the crisis management committee on Saturday. The Slovak Water-management Company (SVP) will start building anti-flood barriers as of that day. Vessels and boats should no longer float on the Danube River as of Sunday. "SVP asked us to declare a third-degree flood alert in Bratislava as of 6 a.m. on Sunday morning, so that it could start fencing off Bratislava. Based on the forecasts we have from the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMU) and the flow predictions ​​provided to us by the Austrian side, we assume that the Danube River might culminate at 910 centimetres," noted Taraba, adding that Bratislava would start to be flooded at this level. A third-degree flood alert also applies for the Morava River. However, the situation there is calmer, said Taraba and Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD). "When considering its water level as of Saturday, we don't expect the Morava River to overflow," stated Taraba. Due to adverse weather, firefighters, police officers and soldiers have been engaged in preventive work since Friday (September 13). Sutaj Estok said that they were building a dam in the Morava River basin on Friday and now they are working on a dam in the village of Kopcany (Trnava region). ko