Stories: ICE ENGULFS SLOVENIA

In February 2014, Slovenia has suffered ice storms that left most of the country under a thick layer of ice. The ice destroyed hundreds of kilometers of power lines and left around 50,000 people without electricity. Roads were blocked due to broken trees. Around 6000 km of roads needed to be cleared. The ice destroyed around 500,000 hectares of forests and caused so much damage that Slovenia had to ask the European Union for help. In Postojna, where the extent of this natural disaster was the largest, the layer of ice was around 10 cm thick.  

To repair the damage caused by ice, Slovenia needed almost half a billion euros. It called neighbouring countries for help and they responded with their own fire teams that brought generators from Germany, Austria, Poland, Chezch Republic and helped clear the consequences of the ice while the rain was still freezing on the surface.