Sirens alerting citizens against flooding were sounded in the cities of Ljubljana, Maribor and Celje after the country’s environment agency issued the highest “red alert” warning due to heavy rainfall that started overnight.

“Three people have died over the last 24 hours in weather-related incidents,” police spokesman Maja Adlesic told AFP.

Two foreign tourists had been found in a mountain area affected by the storms and a woman was found in the areas that had been flooded, she said, without providing further details.

“The situation is serious,” defence minister Marjan Sarec told media, adding that the army had joined rescue and firefighter teams to help citizens in the most affected areas.

The highway connecting Ljubljana with the country’s north had to be closed due to flooding as rivers overflowed, destroying bridges and several houses, news website N1 Info said.

Some 16,000 households had their electricity cut off.

“Some areas are completely cut off and communication is also difficult,” the country’s civil protection chief Srecko Sestan said of the challenging rescue operations.