Kapušany Castle hill before the landslides. (source: TASR)
SUBSIDENCE affecting the castle hill in the municipality of Kapušany, near Prešov in eastern Slovakia, following heavy rains, has now caused damage to 23 houses. As the Mayor of Kapušany Jozef Pribula told the SITA newswire, on June 7, 79 inhabitants have had to be evacuated for safety reasons.
The municipality has invited a team of experts to decide on the fate of other houses in the area. Included in the at-risk category are many relatively newer homes built in attractive settings.
“Paradoxically, our local streams did not spill over and we have not been touched by floods. We rejoiced that this time at least, we were spared. It was as late as three days after the rains that the water from the castle hill began to threaten the houses and caused this disaster,” the mayor said.
Workers have tried to divert the excess water from the afflicted part of the village and route it into the sewage system. The trouble is that the sewage network does not have a sufficient capacity to handle the overflows.
The mayor has declared a state of emergency in the endangered area and gas and water mains have been turned off.
