Geography Slovakia is located in central Europe. The land has rugged mountains, rich in mineral resources, with vast forests and pastures. The Carpathian Mountains dominate the topography of Slovakia, with lowland areas in the southern region.

Flood Warning and Forecasting System of the Slovak Republic

The recent extreme floods in Europe and in Central Europe in particular, resulted into scientific and societal concerns about the reliability of short-term quantitative meteorological forecasts and flood forecasts also in Slovakia. The territory of Slovakia - due to its geographic location and geomorphologic characteristics was often exposed to floods in the past. Beside the flood danger in large basins, flash floods represent a serious threat. Since 1990 the periodicity of occurrence of floods seems to increase.

Recent floods endangered the health and lives of thousands of inhabitants. Besides the suffering of people in the flooded areas significant material damage was caused.

For example an extraordinary extreme storm hit a part of east Slovakia in July 1998. The consequent flash floods in small mountainous basins affected 10 850 people in 75 villages. The flood took 47 human lives, 756 people became homeless, and 3618 people had to be evacuated, 2059 houses were flooded, 279 houses were destroyed and over 5300 farm animals perished. The total flood damages were estimated to be exceeding 20 mil. Euros. Floods pose the most immediate danger of a natural catastrophe for the region of the central the Europe and in the consequences of this the floods cause emergency situations. In 2006 in Slovakia more than 100 days were recorded with the flood protection activity at least step the first. The most of these situations appeared in the east of Slovakia.

The goal of this situation is to focus on the necessity of the flood protection revaluation in Slovakia to avoid the formation of the extreme flood situation and consequential financial damages.

The topic of natural disaster -- prediction, prevention, or minimization of their impact is an important topic for scientific research. Heavy rains on June 20 in 2007 brought about the worst floods in Slovak history, changing otherwise quiet rivers in eastern Slovakia into a lethal force. The wild, overflowing water rushed from the river bed, sweeping over and engulfing everything in its path. The tragic results of these destructive floods were 63 dead, over 3,000 people evacuated from their homes, and two thousand houses destroyed in dozens of communities. Though in the past decade, floods in Slovakia have caused damages exceeding SKK 5 billion and left behind 51 dead.

The Government of Slovak Republic in 2001 has approved The National Programme of Flood Protection till 2010. As part of the project “Flood Warning and Forecasting System of Slovakia”, this is aimed at the considerable innovation of the flood warning and forecasting practices, started in 2001. One of the aims of the project is to considerably improve the quality of the information necessary for early and effective flood forecasting by the enlargement and modernization of the monitoring, processing and telecommunication systems of the Slovak Hydro meteorological Institute.

The improvement of the operational co-operation between the flood forecasting and warning service and flood control bodies in Slovakia will also be controlled. 

Topics Disaster Reduction and Climate Change Hurricane Omar is affecting The Carib.

CDERA Situation Report #2 – Hurricane Omar

Message: Storm Surge associated with the passage of Hurricane Omar cause damage in Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines,

The Event

Storm surge associated with Hurricane Omar which formed in the Caribbean Sea have resulted in widespread flooding and significant coastal damage in some areas of Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines. There have been no reports of deaths.

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The Situation

Dominica

The West Coast of Dominica received a severe battering from Hurricane Omar from about midnight October 15, 2008. A preliminary report from the Office of Disaster Management has indicated that there is wide spread infrastructural damage to roads, sea defenses, ports and utilities from sea swells and several families have been affected.

About 30 families or approximately 125 persons from the West Coast were made homeless and are currently with friends and families.

The Community of Scotts Head in the south, with a population of 450, is cut off from the rest of the country and will be for a few days since the coastal road to that community is extensively damage. That community is without electricity, water and landline telephones.

Access to several other communities along the west coast is difficult.

Due to heavy lightning activities, there were widespread power outages. Several areas around the island were still without electricity and landline phones. During the day cell phone service was intermittent.

The main port was damaged and the Ferry Terminal was extensively damaged. The Cruise ship ports were slightly damaged. All barge access for hauling sand and stones were totally destroyed.

The west side of the Canefield Airport was slightly damaged.

Seven ‘sizeable’ boats ran aground in the second town of Portsmouth and two in the villages of Bioche/Dublanc.

Fishermen from the entire West Coast lost boats, boat houses, engines and fishing gear.

National Actions

The severe weather resulted in Government’s decision to shut down the country for 24 hours on Thursday October 16, 2008. The Airport on the West Coast and Shipping was suspended, but the main Airport and essential services were kept operational.

Damage assessment is continuing to determine the full extent of the impact.

Grenada

Significant wave height was reported in the area of the northern and western coast line extending to parts of the south.

No significant damage reported except for encroachment of waves into land space and some of the streets in the city of Saint George. There are areas of beach erosion towards the south parts of the island.

A more detail assessment is being carried out to determine the extent of the damage.

Saint Lucia

The National Emergency Management Organization has informed that the island suffered coastal impacts from the storm surge associated with Hurricane Omar. The Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis (DANA) Team is currently conducting assessment a report will be released soon.    

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

The western coast of St.Vincent and the Grenadines was severely impacted by storm surge from Hurricane Omar. Preliminary assessment has indicated wide spread flooding, significant erosion and destruction and damage to coastal property and businesses in the Kingstown areas, Central Leeward, East St. George and the Northern and Southern Grenadines. Damage assessment is continuing. 

The Cruise Ship terminal building received significant damage and the businesses housed in the terminal were evacuated. Approximately 20 shops housed in the Bus Terminal in the area of Little Tokyo were destroyed from Storm Surge and several others were damaged from the flood waters.

Several vehicles were damaged as a result of a collapsed retaining wall

In Central Leeward, there was wide spread flooding of several houses and one school was under water. There was also significant damage to the jetties in the Grenadines with several being completely destroyed.

Approximately ten fishing boats were destroyed and several reportedly received significant damage.

National Actions

The National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) was partially activated. NEMO released several bulletins urging the public to be cautious, in particular persons who were venturing into dangerous waters.

NEMO uitilised the Search and Rescue Vehicle which was provided through CDERA under the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security, by the United Nations Development Programe (UNDP) to assist fishermen in pulling their boats from the water.

Rapid Assessment Teams were deployed to the affected areas on mainland and to the Grenadines. The teams included representatives from the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) and the Ministry of Transport and Works.

Regional Actions

The Coordinating Unit of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency has not been requested to provide any assistance at this time but stands ready to do so in the event that this is required following further assessment of the damage.

The CDERA CU will continue to remain in contact with the affected Participating States and will provide updates as necessary. 

The Regional Response Mechanism remains on standby.