Floods in Europe - Europeans brace for High Water

Dateline August 14, 2002

Prague these days isn't as tranquil as the photo--taken just a month ago--shows. Many of the buildings along the banks of the river Vltava are flooded, and the Charles Bridge is closed to remove trees and other flood debris.

Over 100 people have died from the floods in Central and Eastern Europe. We've mined the net for flood information and present that information by country.

At the present time, water has started to subside. Lingering effects include some subway closures and extended clean-up operations in public buildings.

Latest information (08-19-02) here:

Floods roll on as Europe's Cities Count Cost.

Germany

Bavaria and Saxony are the hardest hit. Of those, the city of Dresden has been reported as having the worst flooding.

"Dresden is under waist-high water levels after the river Elbe rose more than five metres above normal." [ read more from CNN ]

"11 Dead in German Floods" [ news.com.au ]

For pictures of the flooding in Germany, see derStandard.

For Dresden web cams see dresden-info. Click on a red dot to see the cam in that location.

Austria

Until last weekend flooding was confined to the north, but flooding has spread as far south as the borders with Hungary and Switzerland. Vienna is threatened.

Austria is preparing to evacuate residents from their homes along several rivers. Salzburg and Linz have been hard hit.

"Central European flooding menaces Prague and Salzburg" [ more from IHT ]

Prague and the Czech Republic

Thursday, August 15th - Flood waters begin to receed in Prague. In Plzen, and the southern town of Ceske Budejovice, home of the real Budweiser, breweries stopped production this week because of the flooding.

"At 4 a.m. Wednesday, firemen began banging on doors in Prague's medieval Old Town, forcing families and shop owners to flee to higher ground...The 16th-century Charles Bridge, which still peaks above the once-lazy Vltava, is in danger of collapsing." [ more from the Christian Science Monitor ]

The swollen river (Vltave) reached its peak level at about 1 p.m. Wednesday and began to slowly drop. [ more from the Prague Post ]

"The flooding is the country's worst in 50 years, and Prague's worst in more than a century." [ read more from CNN ]

"Mayor Igor Nemec said parts of the medieval quarter of the city would be flooded by Tuesday afternoon." [ read more from Sky News - also pictures]

"Thousands of Czechs were already evacuated from the south, including the regional capital Ceske Budejovice, home to Czech Budweiser beer, and Cesky Krumlov, another popular tourist destination." [ read more from IOL ]

"Czechs flee Prague as deadly floods hit Europe." [ more from USA Today ]

Russia

"The death toll from flooding that swept through holiday resorts and scenic villages in Russia's Black Sea Coast rose to 55 on Sunday" [ read more from USA Today ]

Italy

In northern Italy, the rain and hail damaged grapevines, fruit, olives, tobacco and other crops. Estimated damage has been reported to be about $300 million. Current conditions in central Italy have been reported as sunny and mild at this time.