Evacuation too late

Flooding drama: Krnov fights for survival

The Czech town of Krnov is almost completely flooded.(Bild: APA/AFP/Michal Cizek)

The Czech town of Krnov has been almost completely flooded. According to the CTK agency, Deputy Mayor Miroslav Binar said that an estimated 70 to 80 percent of the city was under water. It is now too late for an evacuation. 

The municipality is no longer in a position to organize help for the citizens. It is therefore in contact with the higher-level administrative region of Moravia-Silesia.

Worse than in 1997
The situation is worse than during the flood disaster in 1997. The Opava and Opavice rivers meet in Krnov, which is located around 240 kilometers east of Prague and has just under 23,000 inhabitants. Helicopters were deployed to rescue people in distress from the air. The situation was also critical in many other places in the east of the country, such as the cities of Opava and Ostrava. The highest flood alert level was in force at more than 120 water level measuring stations across the country. A flood of the century was even reported at more than 50 stations.

The government in Prague will meet on Monday to decide on extraordinary financial aid for those affected. Czech President Petr Pavel called for donations for the flood victims. He noted that the hardest-hit areas, such as around Jesenik in the Jesenik Mountains and Frydlant in northern Bohemia, are also some of the poorest regions in the country.

The Czech town of Krnov is almost completely flooded.(Bild: APA/AFP/Michal Cizek)

250,000 households without electricity
The devastating storm left more than 250,000 households in the Czech Republic without electricity. This was reported by the CTK agency with reference to the energy suppliers. The situation was most dramatic in the eastern region of Moravia-Silesia on the border with Poland. There alone, more than 100,000 households had to make do without electricity. Due to the soaked ground, numerous trees fell onto overhead power lines and high-voltage lines.

According to forecasts, the rainfall was expected to continue up to and including Monday. There was considerable disruption to rail traffic as trees fell onto tracks and waterways flooded. Around 40 railroad lines had to be closed completely. At Studenka station, the important main line between Prague and Ostrava was under water. Numerous Eurocity connections to Poland and Slovakia were therefore canceled. The authorities called on citizens to avoid traveling by car or train as much as possible.

The Czech head of government, Petr Fiala, appealed to citizens to follow the instructions of the emergency services in the face of high water and flooding. Some people refused to follow the evacuation orders and leave their apartments or houses. "By doing so, they not only endanger themselves, but also those people who then have to try to save them when things get dramatic," said the liberal-conservative politician on public television CT. Anyone who believes that the preventive measures are unnecessary is mistaken.

People waiting on rooftops
In Opava, the fire department already had to use boats to rescue people left behind in a flooded prefabricated housing estate. Elsewhere, people waited on rooftops for help. At least four people have been missing since the severe storm began. On Sunday night, the mayor of Cesky Tesin ordered the evacuation of several thousand residents from the city center.

More than 250,000 households in the Czech Republic were without power.(Bild: AP/Petr David Josek)

In the south-west of the Czech Republic, the Husinec dam in the foothills of the Bohemian Forest overflowed due to the flood. However, the communities below along the Blanice were warned in good time. The situation on the Vltava and Elbe was much more relaxed than initially feared. The second flood alert level ("standby") was reached at the gauge in Usti nad Labem (Aussig on the Elbe). At the Prague-Vyton gauge, the level of the Vltava was around 2.17 meters above zero on Sunday morning.