Civil Protection Director Damir Trut said on Friday morning that active flood protection measures were in force in Karlovac and Sisak-Moslavina counties and that the situation was under control.

Croatia has been battling floods for the fifth consecutive day, and the next 24 hours will be critical for Sisak and Petrinja.

Trut said that the situation with infrastructure was being monitored, that floodwater was being pumped out of buildings and that local residents were being helped.

“We can say that the situation is under control, there were no problems during the night,” he said.

Tomislav Novosel of the Hrvatske Vode water management company’s flood protection centre told Croatian Radio that even though the level of rivers in the area of Karlovac had dropped by half a metre, it is expected that floodwaters will be receding and be removed in the next few days.

The flood wave is now moving towards Farkasic, Sisak and Petrinja.

“The level of the Kupa River in the areas of Petrinja and Sisak is very high, the pressure on the embankments is great and we will have to be on guard the whole time in the next two days and deal with possible emergency situations as they appear,” Novosel said.

Sisak-Moslavina County head Ivan Celjak said that this was the sixth time flood emergency measures were in force in the county since September last year.

Strawberry crops in the area of Vrgorac, southern Croatia, have been completely destroyed by the floods.

Due to the new flooding, it will not be possible to harvest strawberries grown in the open in the next two weeks and by the end of May, the small remaining quantities will rot due to excessive humidity.

The first strawberries in Vrgorac this year were harvested in early April while the last harvest was expected at the end of May. Since plantations have been flooded, the last harvest is not likely to take place, local strawberry growers said in a comment on the unprecedented situation.