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In this week’s Arts my guest is Czech Photo’s Daniela Mrázková, the curator of an exhibition marking 10 years since the 2002 floods that devastated Prague and other parts of the Czech Republic. Based on an earlier show of works by some of the country’s best photographers, the exhibition is also accompanied by a brand-new book.

The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids reopened its doors to visitors on Saturday, four years and one month after the devastating floods of 2008. The expanded museum was showcased during a two-day celebration over the weekend that included a parade, a video-projection light show, performances by children’s song and dance ensembles and a marionette theatre performance. The museum’s biggest pride is a newly opened exhibition of 230 paintings, sculptures and other works by Czech artist Alphonse Mucha .The restoration of the museum and library was made possible through local, national and international assistance. More than 25 million dollars was raised during a capital campaign for flood recovery, to which the Czech Republic donated 10 million crowns.

Meteorologists on Saturday warned against strong thunderstorms that will hit the north of the country later in the day. Up to 70 mm of precipitation is expected to fall in the region which could swell local rivers as the soil is already soaked by previous rain. Storms, heavy rain and strong winds have been causing problems in the Czech Republic over past several days. Fallen trees block roads and railway lines in many parts of the country and dozens of people were rescued from their flooded homes.

Fire fighters rescued 39 people from homes flooded by heavy rain on Thursday night and saved 30 lives across the country, a spokeswoman for the service said. Storms with rain and strong winds hit the Czech Republic on Thursday; hundreds of homes have been left without power in many parts of Bohemia. Firefighters responded nearly 850 times during the night, five times the usual number of operations. The storms also disrupted traffic in several parts of the Czech Republic, mainly in northern and southern Bohemia and in the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands. The storm also disrupted one of the country’s biggest music festivals, Rock for People in Hradec Králové in eastern Bohemia.

Severe flooding has hit the Plzeň region around the town of Klatovy in the south-west of the country after severe rains overnight. According to meteorologists, around 20mm of rain was forecast to fall in the region. Most severely hit were the towns of Sušice and Klatov with the Šumava and Křemelná rivers reaching a level three degree of flooding while by morning, the River Ostružná had also reached a lower level two degree of flooding. Fire-fighters in the area were forced to evacuate dozens of homes, with locals reportedly saying that they could not remember such severe rainfall in their lifetimes. Roads were flooded in Mochtín, Chlistov and Kolinec and villages such as Běšiny remained impassable. So far, only one death, that of an elderly woman in Mochtín has been reported.

According to the results of an expert study published in Thursday’s edition of Lidové noviny Prague’s anti-flood barriers are not properly maintained. The paper cites experts as saying that along given stretches of the river the barriers are in such poor condition they would not be able to keep out the floodwater. The study contains dozens of pictures supporting these claims. Prague invested 3.7 billion crowns in a flood-barrier protection system after the 2002 devastating floods.

After several days of minor flooding resulting from the thaw, the water-levels of the country’s rivers are reported to have stabilized. Flood alerts have been called off in all high risk areas and meteorologists say the predicted drop in temperatures should stop the thaw in the mountain regions leading to a drop in water levels. In the course of the past fortnight fire fighters in south Moravia and north Bohemia have had to use explosives to break up huge blocks of ice jamming rivers in order to restore the flow of water and prevent local floods.

Water levels on numerous rivers and streams throughout the country dropped on Saturday night lessening flood threats. A number of mid-level alerts, nevertheless, remain in effect in places. For example, water on the Svratka, in the Brno area, rose by 3.5 metres due to collected ice floes. Those are to be removed using explosives. The situation in the region of Liberec, north of Prague, improved with some streams that had broken their banks returning to regular levels.

Melting ice and snow have raised water levels on numerous rivers throughout the country leading to a number of flood threats. Regions where warnings are in place include Hradec Králové, South Moravia and Olomouc. The highest alert is in place in the area of Česká Lípa; the warnings, issued by the Czech Hydometeorological Institute, will remain in effect until noon on Sunday. It is expected that a drop in temperatures in Saturday night will quell flood dangers.

Waterways in the Liberec region experienced problems on Saturday with two ice floes breaking away on the Jizera River: ten recreational homes were flooded in Dolní Sytové. In some places garages were flooded. Large pieces of accumulated ice saw a waterway break its banks in the regions of Plzeň where fire fighters intervened: bulldozers are being used to break up the ice pieces to free up the flow to try and prevent further flooding.

Prague’s leafy central suburb of Karlín may best be known outside of the Czech Republic for the devastating floods that laid ruin to it in 2002, but much of the world has been using the machines and products born of Karlín factories for more than a hundred years and aside from that it is also Prague’s oldest suburb – a point recalled by an exhibition being held this year at the City Museum in Prague that was created by historian Dr. Zdeněk Míka: