----- Original Message ----- From: "aida kraus" <akibb1@verizon.net> To: "aida kraus" <akibb1@verizon.net> Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2006 3:53 PM Subject: Elbe flooded > Here is a link to pictures of the rising waters in Germany. Dresden is a > bit downriver from Aussig (Usti nad Labem). Click on the arrows for a > slide show on the website of the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" > http://www.sueddeutsche.de/panorama/bildstrecke/35/72962/p0/?img=3.2#bild > Aida > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <KarenHob@aol.com> > To: <GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2006 3:00 PM > Subject: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Elbe valley flooded in CR > > >> From: http://www.praguepost.com/P03/2006/Art/0406/news1.php >> >> Flood weary >> >> Capital city's flood plan put into action; other regions hit hardest >> since >> 2002 >> >> By Kristina Alda >> and Iva Skochová >> Staff Writers, The Prague Post >> April 05, 2006 >> >> Eva Quietonová sits along a flood barrier opposite her neighbors' flooded >> house in Melník, 30 kilometers north of Prague, March 31. >> >> The country continues to be on flood alert after rivers, swollen from >> rain >> and melting snow, washed into towns and villages nationwide, forcing >> thousands >> of people out of their homes. At least eight people have died so far in >> connection with the floods, which for many brought back bad memories of >> the >> disastrous flooding that hit in 2002. >> >> Prague was largely spared this time, while other communities — from >> Znojmo, >> in south Moravia, where 10,000 were evacuated, to Melník and Ústí nad >> Labem, >> north Bohemia — suffered extensive damage. In some parts of the country, >> whole >> villages have been underwater. >> >> At press time, waters were receding in the eastern part of the country, >> but >> still rising in the north. The government had announced a state of >> emergency to >> last until April 10 in seven regions: South Bohemia, Central Bohemia, >> Ústí, >> Pardubice, South Moravia, Olomouc and Zlín. >> >> "It's getting pretty depressing," said Bohumil Kaplan, 60, a lifelong >> resident of Ústí, standing in his backyard as his basement flooded. >> "We're >> all >> exhausted." >> >> Officials estimate that damage could be in the billions of crowns. The >> government is promising 380 million Kc ($16 million) in aid to help >> hard-hit regions >> rebuild. The U.S. Embassy in Prague is promising additional aid; U.S. >> Ambassador William Cabaniss expected to meet with Prime Minister Jirí >> Paroubek in the >> next few weeks to set an amount. >> >> But despite the promises, the government is facing criticism from >> residents >> in flooded areas who say it has not done enough to protect vulnerable >> areas. >> Political finger-pointing has ensued, with national and regional leaders >> each >> saying the other has botched the response. >> >> >> Prague prepared >> >> Damage in Prague was a far cry from 2002, when the Vltava River flooded, >> causing 25 billion Kc worth of damage in Karlín and much of Malá Strana. >> >> Emergency authorities put up anti-flood barriers, prepared after the 2002 >> floods, along the banks of the Vltava and pumped water from the Certovka >> stream >> that runs along Kampa Island. >> >> Some playgrounds and riverside cafes were underwater. >> >> "It definitely brought back memories of 2002," said Oldrich Klegr, a >> shift >> commander at Prague's Central Fire Station. "But we are much better >> prepared >> this time — at least when it comes to Prague. I can't say the same for >> the >> rest >> of the country." >> >> About 90 people in the capital, mostly in the Zbraslav area of Prague 5, >> had >> to evacuate. Kampa residents and business owners, still haunted by >> memories of >> 2002, when most of the island was underwater, didn't have to leave this >> time. >> >> But if Prague was better prepared, it seems the rest of the country was >> not, >> with low-lying areas in south Bohemia and Moravia suffering the most. >> Some >> towns had not invested in anti-flood measures at all, saying they lacked >> the >> money to do so. >> >> Residents in these regions are complaining bitterly, saying that in the >> past >> four years the government was only willing to invest money into >> protecting >> Prague. >> >> >> Promises broken >> >> In Ústí, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Prague, Jirí Bružek, >> 72, >> stood in the backyard of his house on Strekovské nábreží and watched >> water >> from >> the swollen Labe River pour into his neighbors' first-floor apartments. >> >> In 2002, Bružek's gray stucco house suffered extensive damage. This time >> it >> looked like it would escape the worst of the flooding. But he was still >> angry. >> >> The government, he said, "promised us so much. But it's always about the >> money, isn't it? They're always more willing to spend money on Prague. It >> always >> has to be about Prague." >> >> Ústí was one of the hardest-hit cities in the country. Some 424 people >> were >> forced to evacuate, and officials set up an emergency shelter on the >> city's >> outskirts where 45 people took refuge. >> >> Newly restored homes >> >> In Melník, where the Vltava River joins the Labe 30 kilometers north of >> Prague, Eva Quietonová, resigned and exhausted, sat on a levee of >> sandbags, >> watching the river spill over its banks uncomfortably close to her house. >> >> Quietonová and other residents of Prístavní street saw their homes >> damaged >> in >> the 2002 floods and had just finished renovating them, painting many of >> them >> in bright pastels. Life, it seemed, was just getting back to normal. >> >> "They say that we won't have to evacuate this time," she said. "But I >> don't >> trust them. We are packed." >> >> The Labe is expected to continue to rise in Melník — waters had reached >> 1.4 >> meters (4.6 feet) above the emergency flood level March 31. Two homes >> have >> so >> far been evacuated. >> >> Jarmila Kelnerová, another Melník resident, had tears in her eyes just at >> the >> thought of moving. >> >> "I am 74 years old. I can't imagine living anyplace else," she said. >> Fortunately, her house is four blocks from the water and is likely to be >> spared. >> >> >> ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== >> Would you like to see messages that were posted before you joined the >> list? To browse the archives, go to: >> http://archiver.rootsweb.com/GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L/ >> >