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People in the north-western regions of the country are scrambling to secure their homes after meteorologists warned they could be hit by fresh floods in the coming days. Thousands of homes in the Liberec region remain uninhabitable after last weekend’s devastating flash floods which claimed five lives and caused billions of crowns in damages. A belt of rain moving across the country is now likely to put at risk the Plzen, Liberec and Ustí nad Labem regions with meteorologists predicting persistent rain and high winds for several days. As water levels rise people have been warned to stay off the country’s rivers, after a 16 year-old-girl drowned on a canoeing trip last weekend.

The Czech Republic’s biggest carmaker Škoda Auto has halted production at its biggest plant and reduced production at another due to supply problems linked with the recent floods on Thursday. Škoda closed down production at its Mladá Boleslav plant in the early afternoon due to flood damage to a Czech plant which supplies car ceilings. Output has also been curtailed at its Vrchlabí plant. Normal production at Škoda Auto should resume on Monday.

Details of eight Czech citizens believed to be caught up in floods and landslides in northern India are still being sought according to the Czech ambassador in India. The ambassador said on Thursday that at least 80 Czechs are still waiting to be evacuated from the stricken region but some groups had decided to stay on in the country to help with the recovery work. Around 170 people have been confirmed dead and 400 are missing in the wake of the flooding in northern India.

At least eighty Czechs remain stranded in the Himalayan region of Ladakh where flash floods killed 156 people at the weekend. Most of them have already contacted the Czech embassy in New Delhi and are waiting to get on flights home, but the fate of a small group who were travelling on their own remains uncertain. Radio Prague called the Czech ambassador to India Miloslav Stašek for the latest news.

After a number of foreign nationals were arrested on suspicion of looting in flood-affected areas, the minister of the interior, Radek John, said that Czech thieves were relatively honourable. Mr John told the Czech News Agency that Czech thieves showed solidarity with their fellow citizens and did not loot, unlike the foreigners who had been arrested. Three Poles and two Romanians were taken into custody on looting charges in north Bohemia on Monday night. Sentences for theft during and after natural disasters are stiffer than at other times, and the five could receive jail terms of up to eight years if found guilty. Three Czech Romanies were detained on suspicion of looting on Tuesday night, police said.

Rescue workers have found the body of a fifty-year-old woman who was killed in the floods that hit the northern part of the country on the weekend. The woman had fallen into the river Šmedá, near her hometown of Frýdlant, on Saturday. Rescue workers found her body a kilometer outside of the town, bringing the Frýdlant’s victim toll to three. Another three town residents are still missing. Across the country, a total of five people have died as a consequence of the weekend floods.

Around 120 Czech citizens are waiting to be evacuated from the Indian region of Ladakh, in the northern part of the country, which has been hit by flash floods. The Czech ambassador to India said on Wednesday that the evacuation will take several days to complete. Among the stranded Czechs are two groups of tourists with whom the Czech embassy has been unable to establish contact. So far, 165 people have been confirmed dead and 400 are missing in the wake of the flooding.

A major clean-up operation is underway in parts of north Bohemia hit by flooding at the weekend. Czech soldiers have been deployed to help tackle the damage caused by the floods, which left at least three people dead and thousands of homes without power. The government has earmarked hundreds of millions of crowns for the affected areas and is planning to raise money for a new flood “solidarity fund” through a cut in income tax breaks. Free buses will go into operation on Wednesday to make up for some cancelled train services. Meanwhile, two Romanians and three Poles have been charged with looting following their arrests in the Liberec region on Monday night.

In the wake of the latest floods that hit parts of the Czech Republic over the weekend, the Czech government has come up with an idea of how to help pay for the damages. Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek wants every tax payer to pay an extra 100 crowns into what he calls a “flood solidarity reserve”. But critics say that the government only wants to raise taxes, and is using the floods as cover.

At an emergency session on Monday the Czech government released 40 million crowns (1.6 million euros) in emergency aid to the Liberec region in north Bohemia, hit by devastating flash floods which claimed at least 3 lives and displaced thousands of people at the weekend. The money is to cover the region’s immediate needs such as temporary shelter for the homeless, disinfectants and clean water supplies. Another 300 to 350 million should be earmarked for reconstruction within the next few days, once approximate damage estimates from the stricken region are available. A thousand soldiers should help with the clean-up efforts in the north of the country.