The Croatian national Emergency Alerts system(SRUUK) will be fully operational as of midnight on Friday after the identified deficiencies have been removed over the last two months and decision makers have been designated, the Civil Protection Directorate announced on Thursday.

Speaking at a press conference, Civil Protection Directorate coordinator Neven Karas said that in the event of a natural disaster a text alert is sent by the Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service (DHMZ), in the event of a flood an alert is sent by the person in charge of flood defence, in the event of a wildfire an alert is sent by the national fire chief, and in the event of a terrorist attack an alert is sent by the police director-general.

Asked whether a warning text message should have been sent out on 19 July when a heavy thunderstorm struck northern and eastern Croatia, Karas said that such decisions should be made by the competent authorities, adding that a red alert does not mean that such a message is sent automatically, but only if the DHMZ establishes that a storm poses a major threat.

Marjan Vukusic, the chief IT officer at the Ministry of the Interior, said that the SRUUK was ready already on 1 September last year but had to be synced with the mobile operators and their equipment.

Djuro Lubura, a court expert on telecommunications, said that no alert system is perfect, but stressed that the SRUUK is among the best in Europe. He said that in the case of Zagreb, which has a million residents, an estimated time for the delivery of a text alert to all users is about 45 minutes.