Two weeks ago, we woke up to chaos as more than two thirds of Slovenia were heavily flooded. Torrential night rains, even as heavy as a month’s rainfall in a few hours, caused river overflowing, landslides and groundwater level rises. Due to heavily damaged infrastructure, fresh water supply and electricity were cut off temporarily and the worst-hit areas were completely inaccessible for days. Thousands of homes were ruined, and human lives were lost in what has been named the worst natural disaster in the country’s history.
photo: MMC RTV SLO/Mitja Torkar
Luckily, the central part of the country, where Mila.Vert is based, was generally untouched. In the days after the flooding, thousands of volunteers, including Mila.Vert team members, NGOs and government officials took to the streets to help out where help was needed. The solidarity and compassion felt in individual and community actions were tangible, and we’re proud and grateful we could add our bits of help where we could either by volunteering on sites or donating to NGOs. If you can and would like to help either on site or with donations, this is a useful resource.
Due to the sheer scale of the disaster, the rebuilding will take months, if not years. At this moment in time, it is impossible to ignore the extreme weather conditions and natural disasters, which are becoming a daily occurrence globally, and can without a doubt be linked to the climate crisis. Planning and rebuilding must consider the instabilities we are facing. This is a reality check and a tipping point that hit us right in the middle of the face – there truly is no other way than to plan every aspect of our future to be as sustainable as possible.
photo: Arso/Boris Nose
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