Torrential rains described by rescuers as “biblical” have hit northern and western Slovenia, disrupting traffic and causing blackouts, with helicopters evacuating people from some areas.
Slovenia’s Environment Agency has issued a red warning against large-scale flooding.
Meteorologists say the heavy rains, which are expected to spread to neighbouring Croatia and Bosnia further to the south, will last for at least the next 24 hours.
Rescuers struggled to reach flooded areas and issued a public call for rubber boats in places where roads were closed and impassable due to landslides.
Helicopters evacuated people trapped in their homes in the town of Skofja Loka, where vehicles and trucks were submerged or taken by torrents, local media reported.
“We have not seen floods like these not just in 500 years, but in a thousand years,” Roman Kocilija, chief of the rescuers in the village of Most pri Komendi, was quoted as saying by local media.
He pointed to water levels of about two metres.
Almost all regional roads in the north were closed as well as some railway lines.
Some 16,000 households were left without electricity.
The army was ready to deploy to help, Defence Minister Marjan Sarec said.
He appealed to citizens to stay indoors in the town of Kamnik, where authorities declared an emergency situation and closed kindergartens.