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Ondava River Breaks Dam, Interior Minister Kalinak on Site
Tuesday 18 May 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Trebisov, May 18 (TASR) - A breach in a dam on the Ondava River only a few kilometres from Trebisov (Kosice region), which was caused by heavy rains and rising water levels, has grown to around 30 metres wide, it was reported on Tuesday.
The water flowing through the gap is flooding fields between the Ondava River and a dam on the Trnavka River and is heading towards the southern part of the town.
"The water is still quite far away (from Trebisov)," said Interior Minister Robert Kalinak, who came to the flood-hit area at night and took part in a session of the crisis-management team on Tuesday morning. He gave assurances that portable walls measuring around 1km have already been brought in, but added that the authorities are also considering evacuating Novy Majer - a district of Trebisov.
Thanks to all-night work carried out by around 140 soldiers from Michalovce (Kosice region), local people and the fire brigade, the water isn't threatening Trebisov directly at the moment, said Kalinak. "There's isn't any direct threat to people's lives and we're waiting to see how the situation will develop," he added.
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