Slovenia. Storms. Broken roofs, tens of thousands of homes without electricity

Thunderstorms passed through Slovenia on Tuesday and Wednesday. Accompanying the element, strong winds, sometimes exceeding 100 kilometers per hour, tore off the roofs of buildings, felled trees and damaged power lines. Due to the dangerous weather, over 250 people camping outdoors were evacuated.

The regions of Dolenjska and Bela Krajina were reported to have been hit the hardest, with many trees uprooted and roofs torn off buildings, including a kindergarten. In total, more than 20,000 households were left without electricity.

The Slovenian Environmental Protection Agency recorded wind gusts reaching 164 km/h in Kredarica, the country’s highest weather station, and 136 km/h in Krvavec, a ski resort north of Ljubljana.

Firefighters evacuated several groups of scouts and others camping outdoors, including Kostel in the south of the country, Kranjska Gora in the northwest and Brežice in the east.

In the region of Carinthia, the wind knocked down trees for the third time in a week. “The biggest problem is that most of the village of Črna is without electricity because many electricity poles have been knocked down,” Romana Lesjak, the local mayor, told commercial broadcaster POP TV.

The storms hit Slovenia less than a week after heavy rains and hailstorms wreaked hail across large areas of the country. Ice balls damaged crops, among other things.