Skopje, 19 June 2023 (MIA) - Smaller artificial reservoirs are already full, but the bigger ones still have room to accumulate the bigger waves that are expected during today, Atanas Ugrinski, head of the Department for Hydrological Forecasts, Base Data, Studies, Information at the National Hydrometeorological Service said ahead of the start of the second workshop within the global project - Flash Flood Guidance System with Global Coverage (FFGS), taking place in Skopje until June 23. 

According to him, the heavy rains have nevertheless contributed to the improvement of the hydrological situation in the country, except for the unfavorable occurrences and local spills caused in the past days.

During the past few days, there was a significant increase in the water level of the rivers across the country, and this was particularly the case in a large part of the Vardar river basin, as local overflows of the river were also observed, and more houses were affected, about 15 houses. Since yesterday, the water level in the upper part of the basin has started to decrease, but local phenomena in that part are still present, Ugrinski said.

The pressure, he added, continued to spread to the downstream stations, to Veles, Demir Kapija.

"During today, we expect the water level to be high there, but without any threat of major overflows of the rivers," said Ugrinski.

Regarding cooperation with other countries in dealing with floods, he said they are in constant communication with neighboring countries, and this, according to him, helps in such situations when we have transboundary waters.

"An example is the Pchinja River basin, which is also flooded in recent days, and which is a cross-border basin between Macedonia and Serbia," Ugrinski said.

Regarding whether there is a way to prevent floods, he said the National Hydrometeorological Service had announced an early warning, and that, according to him, is one of the ways to deal with and protect ourselves from the harmful effects of floods.

He added that the weather is expected to stabilize during this week, without any heavy rainfall, but dry weather and higher temperatures.

The workshop focuses on flood management and the development of early warning systems. The workshop is expected to bring together around 200 participants from over 70 countries in the world, and the overall support is provided by the World Meteorological Organization, which is a specialized agency of the United Nations.