During the night the number of city closures has increased. By 10 o’clock a.m. the Old Town and the Lesser Town have been evacuated and closed. Many streets are under the water. Crowds of people gathered on Těšnov to watch turbid water coming towards Na Poříčí Street. In Karlín gutters changes into fountains. The water broke through the ground, canalisations, backfill and thin minerals.
The town council announces around noon that Prague can expect floods on a scale bigger than the hundred year record. “More than 4.5 thousand cubic meters of the water is expected to flow through the Vltava River,” confirms the mayor Igor Němec. At this point the flow reaches 3.280 cubic meters per second. That number equals the 1890 flood data when there was the water even on the Old Town Square.
In normal circumstances, the number is 150 cubic meters. Damage is calculated. Deputy Mayor Jiří Paroubek, who is in charge of finances, announces that the city gives 20 millions crowns for the first period of damage liquidation.
Closed City
The following day is full of incidents. Unfortunately, none of them are happy ones. Police close bridges one by one and restrict access into many streets. Close to the morning it is not possible to drive through Těšnovský Tunnel and Lahovický Bridge was closed. Also Strahovský Tunnel in Smichov direction stopped serving the public. Libeňský Bridge is also out of use and Švábky crossroad is disappearing under the water. The Czech Railways company discontinued its service at the Masarykova Station. The Main Station and other stations outside of the city are still in service. It is clear that Karlín is in mortal danger. The Prague Power Supply Company cut this part of Prague off. The Old Town was also cut off – here the water has not overflowed its barriers but it is rushing underground into cellars. Tons of food begins to rot in freezers and fridges. Areas without electricity are Libeň, Braník, Bubeneč, Holešovice, part of Hostivař, Lahovice, the Lesser Town, Maltézské Square, Modřany, Žofín, Radotín, Zbraslav, Trója and Velká Chuchle. The Gas Company has encountered only minor problems so far. “The Prague Gas Company is closely monitoring the situation,” comments the spokesman Dagmar Hartmanová. At this moment she doesn’t comprehend that it is not a gas line which is endangered by the water. A silent subterranean enemy is leaking through below and can’t be seen till the last moment.
Not far from Petrského Square policeman are closing a street. Casual pedestrians heard an unbearable hissing sound. “A gas slider was moved by the water and burst,” points out the Prague Police spokesman Eva Miklíková. She also informs about the results of the evacuation. “Only few old and abandoned people resisted. These were exceptions and there were no more than five of them. Police are prepared to escort by force.”
People Don’t Give up
The wind and rain are harsh. People are buying candles, rum, other alcohol and other provisions. No one knows how the supply system is going to work in the following days to come. Volunteers are still trying to build flood dikes primarily at the Lesser Town. Sand sacks are to be seen even on the Lesser Town Square where the water is not expected to reach. People lost their optimism. Crowds gathered at the Old Town Square. Volunteers and tourist are preparing sand sacks. The worst moment is when they run out of the sacks. A car which should bring them is nowhere to be seen. People are notably annoyed. The square looks like if it was a war. Sand sacks are scattered everywhere, they surround even Kinsky Palace where the National Gallery resides.
At the same time, at Karlin some people still won’t leave their homes. They gradually run out of supplies and call for help over their mobiles. Rescuers will drag them in rubber dinghies up to Florenc where the water ends.
Water Gradually Rises
Events are happening hand over fist. After midday the Vltava River Basin Company director Pavel Uher announces that the water won’t rise fast. Even he doesn’t dare to estimate critical flood flow time after which water level should fall fast. It is a game of nerves. Desolate parts of Prague are guarded by police; in spite of this first cases of plunder appear. One of them happens at the Lesser Town where the offenders managed to run away when they saw police. Another group was caught red handed at Karlin. Policeman from Prague 8 later recall groups of thieves. These groups were lurking on Vítkov hill and waiting for the moment of police absence to lower themselves into abandond Karlín.
After 2 a.m. the metro stations Malostranská and Staroměstská are closed. Troja is also cut off as the water flooded streets leading to the Zoo. Czech Railways stop working in the middle of the day at Masarykovo Station and appeal to travellers to leave the station. In spite of that the railway will play a significant part in city transport. It will be for many weeks the fastest city centre connection. The Prague Power Supply Company is cutting off electricity in other parts. Even the town council is without electricity and the town hall is secured by sand sacks. The next blow for Prague transport is the Mánes Bridge closure. In the afternoon trams stopped running to Modřany as the water damaged the route. It is impossible to get to Zbraslav from the centre. The remaining open bridges are Jiráskův, Palackého and Legií bridges. The Unique Charles Bridge monument proves again the genius of its founder, Charles IV. There are excavators on the bridge which are breaking floating debris that could damage the monument. After midday the Smíchov Brewery stopped working, the Strakonická Street is being closed as well as the Závod Míru Bridge at Zbraslav.
Tragedy at the ZOO and Tanks
Prague ZOO is getting even more jeopardized. It turns to radio stations and other media with request for a boat to evacuate gorillas and rhinos. Penguins have already been evacuated. An elephant tragedy begins. This will influence for a long time some people’s perception of the ZOO. The elephant Kádir got stuck in an enclosure and the ZOO employees are desperately trying to free him by breaking concrete walls. The enclosure is under the water level and if the water comes into the enclosure, the elephant will either die or will have to be destroyed. The water is still rising.
Tanks arrived to Prague. The Kristian- Marco Ship by the National Theatre is tied to the bank by two of them. This ship served as a restaurant and wasn’t moved on time to the protective harbour.
Meanwhile the predictions are getting worse. At about 6 p.m. the flow in Prague was reaching about 4.5 thousand cubic metres. That is more than the hundred year record. No one anticipates at this moment, that at the end it is going to be more than 5 thousand. Exactly how much will never be discovered as the meters can’t cope with such a flow. The last pedestrian bridges in the centre (Palackého, Jiráskův Legií) and the Petrin lift are being closed. Police evacuate Podskalí. Buses are evacuating people to already prepared shelters in the school Na Smetance. Between the Legií Bridge arches a trailer got stuck. There is a danger that other objects will accumulate behind it which would create a dyke. That could destroy the bridge and create a wave which would afterwards pull down other bridges along the stream. Firemen intervene and their crane pulls the trailer out off the water. Firemen are trying to pump out The Old Town cellars. It is a futile struggle as the water level still rises. Vyšehrad enjoys extraordinary attendance as it overlooks the whole Vltava. In the ZOO at least one rhino was saved thanks to the crane from Kutna Hora.
Six bridges are closed for pedestrians and cars, the Petřín lift also stopped working. The expected critical flood flow time is moved to midnight. There is still a talk about 4,500 cubic metres per second. This amount of water, however, flew through Chuchle already at 5 p.m. According to the Basin of Vltava Company announcement, the Orlicka Dam has 3.3 thousand cubic metres of water; another 1.5 thousand will arrive from Berounka river. On the top of that it is still raining.
Later in the afternoon a man with inflatable canoe appears and many curious eyes follow his journey. He avoids floating pieces of wood and doesn’t pay any attention to the firemen and policeman’s warning shouts. Afterwards he vanishes. This adventurer will survive. The lower part of Smichov is under the water. After 7 p.m. the Lesser Town begins to disappear. Kampa was flooded by Vltava.
Conditions on the Outskirts of Prague
Radotín is reachable only through Třebotov a Lochkov. Lipenec is slowly succumbing to the water. Some citizens living close to the Lipenské market persistently refuse to leave their homes. Radotín is not as much endangered by Vltava as it is by the Berounka. The water from the Berounka rushes into the Radotínsky Stream and swiftly raises its level. Both upper and lower parts of Černošice and Kazín are also flooded. Velká Chuchle is flooded from the river up to the grade crossing; even the town hall got swallowed up. Strakonická road is under the water, the current tears asphalt up and there is a big lake where a race course had been before. Police close Barikádníků Bridge because water flooded its mouth in Holešovice. On the lower Vltava reaches, the water destroys houses and roads. The waste treatment plant in Bubeneč is protected by an 8.5 metres high dike. In spite of that, the water is gradually working its way inside. “The waste treatment plant was closed off preventively already in the afternoon,” comments the spokesman Marcela Dvořáková. Drinking water quality is steady. For hygienic reason the amount of chlorine was increased.
Night is Going to Be Difficult
The city centre is reminiscent of an after war village. It is dark and silent. Police and fireman’s cars occasionally drive through the city. On the opposite embankment the water already runs between houses. Barriers by the Novotny Foot Bridge are leaking, volunteers are stabilising them with sand sacks. In the dark Kaprova Street pumps are humming, Firemen are taking water from cellars. A similar situation is by the Rudolfinum. The water current is still strong. The water rises in Karlín as well; its level reaches the first floor of the building. No one is allowed into this part of Prague, the barriers are guarded by policemen. Does anyone know what is going to happen now? Midnight staff crisis briefing is not that dramatic. Journalists are yawning and listen to the mayor: “Water will increase by another twenty centimetres approximately.” In the midst of all that despair this seems to be good news. Prague is expecting 5,000 cubic metres to flow through the Vltava River the day after. Critical flood flow is expected at about five o’clock a.m.