PM Plenkovic: Gov't will assist Zadar and county after heavy rain and flooding

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic led a government delegation to the central coastal city of Zadar on Monday in the wake of unprecedented rainfall which caused massive flooding and said that the government would assist the city and that once the damage was assessed, the prefect would most probably declare Zadar County a natural disaster area.

Plenkovic, accompanied by several ministers, met with county and city officials who reported on the situation in the wake of stormy weather that caused flooding to the city.

"After the huge drought and wildfires, now we are faced with flooding. I want to commend all firefighters, police and volunteers as well as the county prefect and mayor, who did what they could to handle the damage. The government will provide maximum support. We expect the damage to be estimated, after which the prefect will almost certainly declare Zadar County a natural disaster area, considering the quantity of precipitation and the damage it has caused," Plenkovic said.

"We are here to help, that is why were came here. That is expected of the state," he said.

He added that what is important is that the entire system is coordinated. "We will discuss how to use European funds and what is at our disposal so that we can improve the quality of equipment," he added.

Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Gabrijela Zalac has been assigned together with the state rescue agency to prepare projects to apply for funds. We have to make a big analysis and see what is functioning and what isn't with regard to equipment, to be prepared for the fire season. I think that today everything that could possibly be done was done. In these situations it is difficult to plan ahead, he said.

Text and photo: Hina

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