- Title: CZECH REPUBLIC: Residents of flooded Czech village evacuate to safer areas
- Date: 4th June 2013
- Summary: ZALEZLICE, CZECH REPUBLIC (JUNE 4, 2013) (REUTERS) AREA AROUND VILLAGE FLOODED VILLAGE UNDER WATER FIREMEN IN WATER VARIOUS OF FLOODED VILLAGE PEOPLE TAKING PHOTOS OF THE FLOODS MEN ON BOAT HOUSE UNDER WATER (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) ZALEZLICE RESIDENT VACLAV NOVAK, SAYING: "It is impossible to compare the floods (now and in 2002). Now the water came slowly through the channels and over the unfinished water barrier but in 2002 it was a huge wave which smashed down all the houses." FLOODS IN MIRROR (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) ZALEZLICE MAYOR JIRI CIZEK, SAYING: "We made a deal with the county representatives that they will give us an immediate financial donation which will be distributed to people affected by floods according to their needs." RESCUE CAR WITH BOAT LEAVING THE VILLAGE NERATOVICE, CZECH REPUBLIC (JUNE 4, 2013) (REUTERS) DORMITORY SING OF DORMITORY (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) VOJTECH TANKO, EVACUEE FROM ZALEZLICE, SAYING: "We went to look at the water and mother with father were moving all the stuff upstairs. Then we gathered up some things, our identification. And we left the rest behind, upstairs." WOMEN SITTING ON BENCH (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) EVA BITTNEROVA, EVACUEE FROM ZALEZLICE, SAYING "We had built a new house after the 2002 floods. It will be like starting over." DORMITORY
- Embargoed: 19th June 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Czech Republic
- Country: Czech Republic
- Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Nature / Environment
- Reuters ID: LVA6LLT00BAH37ZM4KI9ZFTHZCWK
- Story Text: Thousands of Czechs have been forced to pack up and seek shelter at relatives' homes or in schools after days of rain brought major flooding that had threatened the historical capital Prague and inundated swathes of central Europe.
When Eva Bittnerova evacuated her house in the central Czech village of Zalezlice, she could not believe she had to run from a dangerous flood for the second time in just over a decade.
"We had built a new house after the 2002 floods. It will be like starting over," she said, sitting outside a dormitory in the nearby town of Neratovice along with others evacuated.
The village of just 350 people had been nearly washed away in 2002. It could have been spared this time, if a protective dike was not delayed by a dispute over land. On Tuesday (June 4) the semi-finished dike gave way to muddy water that poured in.
"It is impossible to compare the floods (now and in 2002). Now the water came slowly through the channels and over the unfinished water barrier but in 2002 it was a huge wave which smashed down all the houses," said one of the residents Vaclav Novak.
Zalezlice mayor Jiri Cizek said villagers will get financial support.
"We made a deal with the county representatives that they will give us an immediate financial donation which will be distributed to people affected by floods according to their needs," he told reporters.
The water levels this year are about two metres below what was seen in 2002, Cizek said. One- and two-storey homes, many recently built, stood in knee-deep water on Tuesday.
The flood wave, which has killed a dozen people in the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany, has been moving north from Prague, threatening the Czech city of Usti nad Labem and Dresden in Germany. Further south-east, authorities are braced for a surge on the Danube proceeding from the German town of Passau to Slovakia and Hungary.
The Czechs were not used to frequent flooding. There were almost no major floods for over a century until a big inundation in the country's east that killed 60 people in 1997.
But since then, weather patterns have changed, bringing several flash floods as well as drought. Some experts said that while single freak weather events should not be overestimated, repeated disasters must be taken into account.
Prague's historical city centre, a U.N. world heritage site and popular tourist destination, suffered badly in a 2002 flood that could not be compared to anything on record.
Central Prague has been spared this time around, with the help of newly build metal flood barriers. But about 30 km (19 miles) downstream flood waters deluged Bittnerova's house, along with much of the small village of Zalezlice on the conjunction of the Vltava and Elbe rivers. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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