Army fights Czech floods

2006-03-31 12:46

Prague - The Czech government on Friday added 1 000 soldiers to a week-long battle against flooding rivers that have killed at least four people and driven thousands to higher ground.

Although water levels in many areas including Prague had apparently stabilized by Friday morning, the situation worsened along the Dyje and Jihlava rivers in the south, and the Labe in the north.

A wait-and-see attitude prevailed in riverside cities such as Znojmo, where 2 300 people were evacuated on Wednesday night, and Usti nad Labem, where a Labe River dike broke on Friday morning.

"Now we are waiting and waiting, because everything depends on the rivers," said Petr Kopacek, spokesperson for the national fire brigade.

Historic district saved

On Friday, falling rivers allowed evacuees to return home in some communities including low-lying parts of Prague and the village of Vestec, on the upper Labe, which prime minister Jiri Paroubek earlier toured by helicopter.

Prague officials were especially relieved that emergency barriers built after a 2002 flood disaster managed to protect the historic district from the flooding Vltava River.

But the rising Jihlava threatened to inundate the restored Jewish quarter in Trebic, and nationwide soldiers joined citizens and more than 7 000 firefighters in sandbagging and other efforts to hold back the water.

After an emergency cabinet meeting on Thursday night, the government released 380 million koruna ($16.5m) for regional flood assistance. Most of the money was earmarked for road and infrastructure repairs.

- SAPA