It happens every few years, especially in the southwest of the country. According to the Forest Service the ice storm has damaged more than half a million hectares of forest. Seven million cubic meters of timber will have to be felled, while 660 hectares of forest will be cut down completely and new trees will be planted instead. A strong ice storm which causes considerable economic damage occurs every 50 years, smaller storms are much more frequent. The last huge ice storm has occurred in 1980 in Brkini where the ice was 7cm thick in most places.