Posted on 08/13/2002 8:12:43 PM PDT by green nexus
PRAGUE (Reuters) - Emergency workers scrambled through Tuesday night to reinforce sandbag walls protecting the entrances to Prague's Old Town Square, as rising flood waters forced the evacuation of more than 50,000 people.
Torrential rains and floods from Germany to Russia have killed more than 70 people in a week. Hundreds more have died in monsoon floods in South Asia.
Rising rivers flooded the historic city of Dresden, and Salzburg was threatened by the floodwaters that have brought death and destruction to whole swathes of the continent at the height of the summer tourist season.
In Prague, more than 50,000 people left their homes as the rushing waters of the river Vltava spilled over its embankments into the medieval Mala Strana district, beneath Prague castle, seat of the old Bohemian kings.
Shop owners, soldiers and hundreds of volunteers worked furiously to build sandbag walls to protect the picturesque quarter from serious damage and keep the water -- which has risen over 20 feet above normal levels -- from the 13th century buildings on Old Town square.
Prague Mayor Igor Nemec said the worst was yet to come. Water levels were expected to peak around 9 p.m. EDT Tuesday. But he said the Old Town Square, home to the famous 15th century astrological clock whose hourly parade of the apostles is watched by thousands, might escape serious damage.
"The protective barriers (of sandbags) should not be broken. The Old Town should remain safe," Nemec said.
200,000 CZECHS FORCED FROM HOME
Interior Minister Stanislav Gross added that in all some 200,000 people across the country had been forced from their homes in the largest post-World War II evacuation operation.
Floodwater has surged in from the south through the day and night as heavy rains spread chaos across central Europe. Nemec said, however, that rivers in southern Bohemia which feed the Vltava had already reached their peak and after that wave hit Prague early Wednesday morning, the city should be safe.
The Czech death toll rose to nine after the body of a missing elderly man was found on a river bank far from his home south of Prague. Earlier, a man died trying to save his dog in rushing waters. Several more remain missing.
Officials at Prague Zoo told Czech state television they had to put down a 35-year-old elephant during a rescue mission.
President Vaclav Havel said he was cutting short a holiday in Portugal, where he had been convalescing from a bout of bronchitis, out of concern over what officials said were the worst floods in the city's 800-year history.
Some Prague residents were at first reluctant to leave.
But as the waters of the Vltava, which rises in the Bohemian forests and runs north into the Elbe, spilled into the streets, people began to flee the center of the city, with its magnificent stone architecture and numerous tourist attractions.
The river water was expected to be flowing at 175,000 cubic feet per second, nearly 100 times the summer average, by early morning. Army helicopters buzzed overhead, watching for major breaches in the river banks.
DAMAGE NEARLY $2 BILLION
Experts say damage, which will take weeks to assess, may top the $1.88 billion from 1997 floods when nearly 50 people died.
In Germany the swollen river Elbe forced the partial evacuation of the Baroque city of Dresden, and the Zwinger Palace, home to one of Europe's great art museums, lay partly under water.
In Austria, deaths were reported in Salzburg and officials said the river Danube was rising by up to a meter an hour.
In Romania, a mother and baby died when a house collapsed in violent winds that also overturned a bus, killing the driver.
The Czech crown fell on fears of the effect on the economy, bourse trade was stopped and many offices were evacuated.
Weekend flooding in Russia's Black Sea region killed at least 58 people, mostly Russian holidaymakers.
The German states of Bavaria and Saxony were hard hit.
Many streets in Dresden, the Saxon capital, were closed. The fire brigade pumped water out of the basement of the Semper opera house, next to the Zwinger, whose art collections officials said were unharmed.
Weeks of torrential rain in parts of South Asia have killed nearly 800 people and caused widespread damage to crops, roads and villages -- while other parts of the sub-continent remain parched by drought.
As far as Western civilization, the best of it is in America, while Europe is left with their dregs. We shouldn't look back.
Hmmm, fire, water, probably pestilence in the Middle Ages.
Dr. Phibes, anyone?
Since Dresden was in Eastern Germany, wouldn't they be at least at anti-socialist as the Czechs?
I must have read my Bible wrong. I don't recall anti-Americanism being a sin, let alone one worth being flooded over. This "God is punishing Europe for their socialist politics" crap is revolting and depraved.
Using your logic, what is God punishing America for with the record droughts?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.