PRAGUE: Prague was placing up flood defences within the metropolis’s historic centre on Friday (Sep 13) after Czech forecasters expanded a warning for excessive rainfall to areas of the nation together with the capital, which suffered catastrophic flooding greater than 20 years in the past.
Heavy rain has pounded largely jap components of the Czech Republic since Thursday, and essentially the most affected areas may even see greater than a 3rd of annual rainfall over 4 days by Sunday.
Comparable climate has been forecast round central Europe, together with southern Germany and components of Austria, Poland, and Slovakia over the approaching days.
“Knowledge exhibits we face uneasy days,” Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala advised a televised briefing after a disaster committee assembly, including that in some locations water ranges could exceed flooding approaching common as soon as in 100 or extra years.
“We’re taking all the required measures to stop harm to property and well being.”
On Friday, the very best threat warning was prolonged to central and southwestern areas together with Prague, the place in 2002 floods compelled the evacuation of tens of 1000’s of individuals, led to constructing collapses and flooded the capital’s subway system for months.
Prague, a metropolis of 1.3 million individuals, has since invested closely into flood boundaries and different measures to keep away from related inundations.
Prague mayor Bohuslav Svoboda stated on Czech tv that waters within the metropolis, which sits on the banks of the Vltava river spanned by the picturesque 14th century Charles Bridge, have been anticipated to peak on Saturday night time.
“We’re appearing in a preventative mode and we consider that beginning anti-flood measures now, we consider the scenario of 2002 is not going to repeat itself,” he stated.
Water administration authorities have began to empty reservoirs on the Vltava dam cascade upstream from Prague, in addition to on different rivers, to make room to dissipate the anticipated flood waters.
Essentially the most heavy rain was nonetheless anticipated within the nation’s east and northeast, that are drained by the Elbe (Labe), Danube and Oder (Odra) rivers flowing to Germany, Slovakia and Poland, respectively.
The Czech soccer league cancelled matches throughout the nation, and cities cancelled cultural occasions. Hearth officers helped fill sandbags and put up mounted flood boundaries in quite a few cities and cities.
The southern Polish metropolis of Wroclaw cancelled outside cultural occasions, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated emergency companies could be prepared for localised flooding.
The Morava river, which types the Czech-Slovak and Austrian-Slovak borders earlier than reaching the Danube, threatened to overflow and Slovakia’s authorities has began to search for locations to artificially spill out the river in non-populated areas, Slovak Surroundings Minister Tomas Taraba stated.
