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Swelling rivers broke their banks on Friday in several parts of the Czech Republic. The Labe in northern Bohemia flooded a major thoroughfare between the city Děčín and the capital; a swollen stream closed a Czech-German border crossing in the Most area. Czech authorities issued mid- and high-level warnings on Friday in the regions of Plzeň, Karlovy Vary and Ústí. Authorities in Prague halted traffic on the Vltava on Friday.

The danger of floods is the result of a continuing thaw that has hit the country. Warmer temperatures and steady rainfall are only expected to continue into the weekend.

In this week’s Business News: falling fortunes for Sazka, foreign labour leaves Czech market, threats and promises in ad revenue battle, insurance payouts double in 2010, and Czech company lines up British army contract.

The Czech Hydro-meteorological institute has issued a flood alert warning in view of the upcoming thaw. Towns and villages in the southern and western parts of the country are at increased risk, with smaller rivers already swollen with melting snow. Temperatures over the weekend are expected to reach 11 degrees Celsius and forecasters are moreover predicting rain.

River levels in the Czech Republic started to ease on Monday after rising to the highest flood warning level three over the weekend as snow started to thaw. Level two flood threats applied at around five points in the worst affected region, western Bohemia, on Monday morning. In the northern part of the country around Liberec, river levels have already returned to near normal. The danger of avalanches in the Krkonos mountains was also cut from two to one on the five level scale but the level two warning has been maintained for the Jeseníky mountains.

An extreme flood alert remains in effect for the Plzeň region although levels on the Radbuza River declined somewhat on Saturday evening. Specialists expect levels may again rise on Sunday with temperatures above zero leading to more melting snow.

Meanwhile, the danger of some 50 homes being flooded on the Berounka River on Saturday has passed. Large ice floes that had blocked sections broke away early in the evening, with rising water falling back to normal levels at around midnight, experts said.

The Hydrometeorological Institute has issued an extreme flood alert for the region of Plzeň, where water levels have been rising on the Radbuza. Mid-level warnings, meanwhile, are in place in the regions of Liberec and Ústí nad Labem in north Bohemia, and Karlovy Vary in the west of the country. A warm front from the southwest has led to a rise in temperatures, melting snow around the country following weeks of freezing conditions. Ice floes on some rivers are also raising water levels. Meteorologists expect temperatures on Saturday evening to drop below zero and have warned of icy conditions on Czech roads. Similar conditions over the last two days have severely complicated the situation for both motorists and pedestrians.

The Czech Republic will receive almost 130 million crowns (the equivalent of around 5 million euros) to help cover damages from floods which hit parts of the country in May and June. The information was released by the European Commission on Thursday. A spokesman for the Finance Ministry confirmed that the allotted funds would defray expenses for repairs to public property and infrastructure that had not been covered by insurance companies but would not cover losses suffered by private businesses. Damage from the floods earlier in the year was estimated in the billions of crowns.

Three Polish citizens have been sentenced to three years in prison by a court in the Czech city of Liberec for looting during floods in north Bohemia in August. The Poles only stole petrol worth CZK 7,500 (USD 400); the sentence was so high because they committed the crime during a natural disaster. The three told the court they had not known there was flooding in the region, and have appealed the verdict.

A man who had been missing since his car repair shop was destroyed in flooding in the Liberec region in August was found hanged early this week, the news website novinky.cz reported. The body of the man, who was 37, was found by a passer-by in a wood near his home in Nová Ves, police said. He had been reported missing days after some of the worst flooding to hit the region in many years.

In the summer of the 2002, Prague was hit by one of the worst floods in the city’s history. The swollen Vltava inundated parts of the historic centre, including the Jewish quarter, which had to be evacuated. This dramatic scene is the setting for the new Czech novel Sidra Noach by David Jan Novotný. The name comes from the weekly readings from the scripture. As it happened, the story of Noah was read in the synagogue just as the waters began to recede.