Prague had not been flooded for as long one hundred and twelve years. The last time when the river overflowed its banks was in 1890 and it was a real disaster. The water pulled down three arches of Charles Bridge and people were paddling on boats in the Old Town Square. At Invalidovna in Karlín, there is still a monument to commemorate the dead claimed by the sudden flood.

Since then, the city has withstood only raised water levels every ten or twenty-five-years. All eyewitnesses had died, and only a few people were aware of the danger. A shock arrived in 1997: in Moravia floodwaters rushed in, coming from Jeseniky and Kralický Sněžník sweeping away whole villages where many people died. Everybody began to speak of floods, but the shrewd ones knew that this was just a beginning. Actually, thanks to the floods in Moravia and the foresight of some people, there was far less damage in Prague five years ago.

However, it would be unjust not to mention the fact that Prague had been preparing for a similar situation even before the floods in Moravia: in 1996, Prague City Hall ordered a mathematical flood model of the Vltava and Berounka for 2.4 million Czech crowns. When people saw it shortly after the Moravian floods at a themed exhibition, they were surprised how much damage the floodwater might cause. Then, nobody would guess that the mathematical model did not include areas, which a couple of years later the water would finally conquer.

The way the water proceeded

  • >LINK 12. (Monday 12th August)
  • >LINK 12. (Tuesday 13th August)
  • >LINK 12. (Wednesday 14th August)
  • >LINK 12. (Thursday 15th August)

Interests

  • >LINK 12.
  • >LINK 12.
  • >LINK 12.