LJUBLJANA, Slovenia — The European Union and NATO started sending pressing assist Monday to Slovenia after extreme flooding over the weekend affecting two-thirds of the small European nation killed not less than six folks and left a whole bunch homeless.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke by cellphone with Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob on Monday, expressing his sympathy and NATO’s robust solidarity with Slovenia, a NATO assertion mentioned.

“I express my deepest condolences to the people of Slovenia for the loss of life and widespread devastation caused by this weekend’s floods,” Stoltenberg mentioned.

On Sunday, Slovenia and Cyprus activated a European Union Civil Protection Mechanism due to the floods in Slovenia and wildfires in Cyprus which have affected these EU states.

The EU is sending to Cyprus two Canadair firefighting airplanes from the EU’s Civil Protection Pool stationed in Greece. Greece can also be sending 20 tons of liquid retardant by way of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

The flooding in Slovenia was the worst in current historical past in Slovenia, a rustic of some 2 million folks, in keeping with Slovenian officers.

France is sending two excavators with engineering items to Slovenia, whereas Germany is sending two prefabricated momentary bridges and two excavators with the accompanying employees, the European Commission mentioned.

Bulgaria and Croatia have additionally supplied help, together with helicopters, excavators, prefabricated bridges and engineering groups. The United States has additionally deployed employees to Ljubljana to evaluate the state of affairs and decide pressing humanitarian wants.

The German Interior Ministry mentioned it was sending a crew from the Federal Agency for Technical Relief to Slovenia. The first crew, specialised in rescue, was anticipated to reach Monday and extra groups had been anticipated to comply with.

The floods had been brought on by torrential rains Friday that brought about rivers to swell swiftly and burst into homes, fields, villages and cities. Slovenia’s climate service mentioned a month’s value of rain fell in lower than a day.

Experts say excessive climate situations are partly fueled by local weather change. Parts of Europe have seen report warmth and wildfires this summer time.

Entire villages are nonetheless beneath water in Slovenia. Crops have been destroyed and vehicles caught in mud. Major highways in components of Slovenia have been closed. Many bridges have additionally collapsed.

Slovenian authorities warned of hazard from doable mudslides and swollen rivers that might overflow at any time, overtaking banks of sandbags positioned by emergency groups.

Several extreme storms within the Alpine nation earlier in the summertime blew off roofs, downed hundreds of timber and killed one individual in Slovenia and 4 others elsewhere within the area.

Flash floods had been additionally reported in neighboring Austria and Croatia and heavy rains and storms brought about main harm farther east in Serbia, which is downstream from the swollen Sava river that flows from Slovenia and Croatia over the Balkans.

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