DISASTER RESPONSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF ŠKOFJA LOKA DURING THE AUGUST 2023 FLOODS

Abstract

On 4 August, 2023, the municipality of Škofja Loka was hit by the worst flooding since 1926. Due to the heavy rainfall, torrential streams first began to rise in the Polhov Gradec Dolomites and the Škofja Loka Hills, followed later by the Poljanska Sora, Selška Sora and Sora rivers. The consequences of the floods were catastrophic, as approximately 400 houses were flooded, road infrastructure was destroyed and water, electricity and telecommunication networks were damaged. While the floods themselves did not cause any casualties or severe injuries, a significant number of people had to be rescued or evacuated. On the same day, a Civil Protection (CP) Municipal Headquarters was formed, consisting of firefighters, and members of the CP headquarters, the municipal administration, and other intervention services, as well as a dispatch centre. The CP headquarters operated according to incident response management system, in which the operational management of the response was led by the fire chief, and the inter­vention management itself worked according to a coordination system as a combined intervention management. At the lower levels, the management was organized by the territorial sectors. The management of individual sectors also planned current and future activities, coordinated the work and measures with other forces and other services, and managed the coordination of the work with volunteers. This contributed to the fact that the post-flood work was carried out so successfully. During the period of the event, a large number of interventions were carried out, involving many units, services and organizations and a large number of personnel.