Floods in Dravsko polje

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Photo by: Silvester Krepek

 

Dravsko polje is an extensive flat part of Styria on the right bank of the Drava River. Roughly, it covers a territory of a triangular shape, between Maribor, Ptuj and Prager. The average altitude of the field is 250 meters above sea level. Dravsko polje is surrounded by Pohorje in the west, Slovenske gorica in the north, and Haloze and Dravinjska gorica in the south. In the east (around Ptuj), from the left bank of the Drava towards Ormož, the plain part continues as the Ptuj field.

 

River Drava originates on the northern side of the Neunerkogel hill (Cima Nove Dobbiaco, 2642 m) on the southern edge of the Toblaško field, southwest of the town of San Candido (German: Innichen). Passing the small town, it flows eastward along the wide, glacially transformed Pustrich Valley, after a few kilometers it enters Austria and continues its journey through East Tyrol to the town of Lienz, where it meets the first major tributary of the Isel on the left. From here on, it flows through the valley between the Kreuzeck mountains in the north and the Ziel Alps in the south, at Sachsenburg it enters a wider valley, where it receives a strong left tributary of the Möll from below the Großglockner and turns southeast past Špital.