Awareness of residing in a flood-prone area – a case study of the Municipality of Žalec

Naravne nesreče so pojavi v naravi, katerih bistvena lastnost je povzročitev škode. Njihovo delovanje ogroža človeka, živali, premoženje, kulturno dediščino in okolje. Pogostost in intenziteta naravnih nesreč iz desetletja v desetletje narašča. Velik razlog za to smo ljudje. Odtujenost družbe od naravnega okolja, nevednost in zanikanje naravnih procesov vodi ljudi v nepremišljene odločitve, kot so posegi v prostor, ki pripada naravi. S tem ogrožamo svoja življenja in povečujemo škodo, ki jo povzročajo naravne nesreče. V Sloveniji so najpogostejše naravne nesreče neurja s točo, zemeljski plazovi, podori, usadi, poplave, žled in druge vremenske ujme. Poplave so v Sloveniji pogost naraven pojav, ki glede na povzročeno materialno škodo zaostaja le za sušo in točo. Manjše poplave se dogajajo skoraj vsako leto. Vse bolj so pogoste tudi velike poplave, ki so se v zadnjih dveh desetletjih pojavile sedemkrat. Vsaka od teh je na območju Slovenije povzročila več kot 140 milijonov evrov škode z izjemo poplave leta 1990, katere skupna škoda je znašala 551 milijonov evrov. Čeprav je večino poplav v Sloveniji mogoče napovedati, njihovega delovanja ne moremo preprečiti, lahko pa omilimo njihove posledice in se nanje bolj ali manj učinkovito pripravimo. Za pravočasno in učinkovito ukrepanje sta pomembni priprava načrtov zaščite in reševanja ob poplavah na državni, regijski in občinski ravni ter ozaveščenost prebivalstva o poplavni ogroženosti njihovega območja. Porečje reke Savinje sodi med poplavno bolj ogrožena območja v Sloveniji. Po oceni poplavne ogroženosti Uprava Republike Slovenije za zaščito in reševanje Savinjsko regijo uvršča v četrti razred (velike) poplavne ogroženosti, kar velja tudi za Občino Žalec. Prebivalci Občine Žalec se zavedajo poplavne ogroženosti njihovega območja, vendar to temelji predvsem na dogodkih iz preteklosti. Ljudi je najbolj zaznamovala poplava leta 1990, ki je pri mnogih anketirancih povzročila veliko materialno škodo. Prebivalci menijo, da so na poplave dobro preventivno pripravljeni. Po pomoč in nasvete se največkrat obrnejo na člane Prostovoljnega gasilskega društva Vrbje, katerega delovanje in učinkovitost ob poplavah ocenjujejo kot odlično.Natural disasters are natural phenomena whose main characteristic is to cause damage. Their appearance threatens humans, animals, property, cultural heritage, and the environment. The frequency and intensity of natural disasters increase decade in decade out. A great reason for that is humans. The alienation of the society from the natural environment and ignorance and denial of natural processes leads people into reckless decisions, such as interventions in space which belongs to nature. Thus, we threaten our lives and increase the damage which is caused by natural disasters. In Slovenia, the most common natural disasters are hailstorms, landslides, cave-ins, landslips, floods, sleet, and other weather disasters. Floods are a common natural phenomenon in Slovenia. Concerning the caused damage, they fall behind only after drought and hail. Smaller floods appear almost every year. Great floods are increasingly more common. They appeared seven times in the last two decades. Each time they caused more than 140 million euro damage except for the flood in 1990 whose total damage cost 551 million euro. Even though most floods in Slovenia can be predicted, we cannot prevent their ripple. However, we can diminish their consequences and prepare for them efficiently. To act on time and efficiently, the preparation of the plans of protection and rescue in the event of floods on the national, regional, and municipal levels, as well as the residents’ awareness of the flood risk of their area, are important. The Savinja river basin is one of the most severe flood-prone areas in Slovenia. According to the evaluation of the Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief, the Savinjska region is classified as the fourth class of great flood risk which is also valid for the Municipality of Žalec. We ascertained that the residents of the Municipality of Žalec are aware of the flood risk of their area. However, this is based mostly on the events in the past. People were marked mostly by the flood in 1990 which caused a lot of material damage. The participants of the survey believe that they are well prepared for floods. They turn to the members of the volunteer fire brigade Vrbje for help and advice on most occasions. The participants of the survey believe that the operations and the efficiency of the fire brigade in the case of floods are excellent