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Heavy rains persist across Central Europe, causing flooding and dozens of deaths.
©Associated Press
August 14, 2002
PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Tens of thousands of Czechs fled their historic capital for higher ground Tuesday as torrential rains turned the Vltava River into a menacing cascade. Across Europe, flooding has killed at least 88 people.
Churning toward Prague's Old Town, the heart of the capital and a popular tourist stop, the brown, swollen Vltava inflicted the worst flooding in more than a century on the Czech Republic. Officials said at least nine people died after more than a week of heavy rainfall.
Water engulfed Prague's historic Kampa island, flooding architectural gems dating to the Hapsburg Empire. Volunteers gathered around landmarks and scrambled to fill hundreds of sandbags in a desperate bid to save the city's treasures from rising waters.
At least 40,000 residents of low-lying areas of Prague -- a city of just over 1-million people -- were ordered to leave their homes Tuesday, and a total of 200,000 were evacuated nationwide, Interior Minister Stanislav Gross said. The 340-room Intercontinental Hotel and the Four Seasons Hotel evacuated their guests.
But by 9 p.m. Tuesday, the threat to the Old Town appeared to be easing.
Czech television said the Vltava was expected to rise only by another foot, and Jan Buergermeister, the official in charge of the area, said even triple that would affect only the evacuated areas.
Weather forecasters in Prague were calling for the rains to move east, away from the capital, and diminish.
Emergency workers cleared bridges of hundreds of people watching the rising waters, but many tourists ignored the call to evacuate.
"This is a quite different experience than I thought I would get," said Mike McCloskey, 20, a student from Philadelphia who photographed volunteers building a barrier along the road leading to the river.
Meteorologists said low pressure and relatively high temperatures have created a virtual water fountain above Central Europe. As heavy rains continued to lash the region, pooling on saturated ground, already-battered cities south of Prague were also flooded.
In Austria, where at least seven people have died, firefighters and Red Cross volunteers were stacking sandbags to hold back parts of the swollen Danube River, which flooded Vienna's port and some low-lying streets.
The Danube punched through dams in the town of Ybbs in Lower Austria province Tuesday, and emergency workers in hip boots waded along railroad tracks, pulling out debris. The Defense Ministry said 8,000 soldiers were battling floods in Upper Austria and along the Danube.
The flooding affected an estimated 60,000 Austrians, who either were evacuated from their homes or suffered flood damage. In Salzburg province, more than 1,000 buildings were under water, and in the badly flooded Danube town of Krems, residents were urged to abandon lower floors.
"Upper Austria offers the image of misery -- a land submerged in water," said Josef Puehringer, the provincial governor.
Most of Europe's flooding casualties were in Russia, where at least 58 people were killed late last week -- mostly Russian tourists vacationing on the Black Sea who were ambushed by flood waters that swept cars and tents out to sea.
In Germany, where firefighters and soldiers stacked sandbags to reinforce strained river banks, a 71-year-old man drowned Monday night in flooding in Dresden, and a cascade of mud and water swept away two adults and a child Tuesday.
Many dams were in danger of breaking in towns along the Danube near Passau, a city on the Austrian border whose old town was submerged Tuesday.
In Romania, flooding and strong winds killed at least seven people in recent days. In the eastern part of the country Monday, a small tornado struck a house, killing a 24-year-old woman and her 17-month-old baby.
Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla, who declared a state of emergency Monday night, deployed 4,000 soldiers throughout the country, and President Vaclav Havel cut short a Portugal vacation because of flooding that destroyed or rendered impassable more than a dozen bridges.
The city's most famous tourist attraction, the 14th century Charles Bridge, was closed and a backhoe and crane were stationed on it to remove trees and other flotsam that crashed into its pilings.
Former Mayor Jan Kasl said that without the removal of the debris pressure from the floodwaters could topple the structure.
Officials called the flooding Prague's worst since 1890.
Stores and offices lost power by mid-afternoon, forcing many to shut down, and the Prague Stock Exchange suspended trading. Hundreds of people hurried through the cobblestone streets, rushing to get home before transportation links shut down.
At the Zoological Garden on the outskirts of Prague, about 400 animals were moved to higher ground. They included two rhinos who were moved with a crane and four gorillas who were sedated. A fifth gorilla was missing but presumed to be hiding within the zoo.
-- Information from the New York Times was used in this report.