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Flash floods hit the north of the country on Thursday night. The body of one man was found five kilometres downstream after he was carried off by a surging river near the city of Liberec. Police announced later that the body of a drowned elderly woman was found in a lake near Železný Brod. Rivers and streams in the area rose by up to two metres following heavy storms. Houses were also flooded near the town of Děčín where a children’s camp also had to be evacuated.

The floodwaters have receded in Moravia, but now many parts of the region are inundated with mosquitoes. Various sources have reported as many as 60 bites a minute in places – not necessarily a danger, but a definite inconvenience as the summer tourist season begins.

President Klaus has signed a government bill that will allow the state to issue flood bonds to the tune of 3 billion crowns as part of a financial rescue plan for victims of the spring floods that have caused widespread damage in the northeast of the country. The bonds should be bought by the European Investment Bank which gives the Czech government better terms than it would get if it offered them on the open market. As part of the deal the government also approved an increase in funding for flood-prevention by 1 billion to a total 11.5billion crowns.

The energy giant CEZ has reported flood-damage to the tune of 19 million crowns in the flood-stricken areas. A spokesman for the company said emergency repairs were underway to restore power to all its clients as soon as possible. In some towns CEZ has set up emergency power generators which are essential for the clean-up operation. Damage to power lines is reported to be extensive due to a combination of flooding, strong wind and landslides.

A clean-up operation is underway in the north-eastern parts of the country where floods killed two people this week. Although some towns remain on flood alert water levels have been going down and meteorologists predict dry and sunny weather over the weekend. Some areas have been flooded twice within the space of a fortnight, leaving hundreds of families displaced. Fire crews have been working around the clock pumping water from cellars and aid workers have been distributing basic necessities. Psychologists are on hand to help people cope with the calamity.

Water levels of Czech rivers have been going down but many areas remain on flood alert in view of more rain predicted on Friday. The highest, level three, flood alert applied at around a dozen sites across the country with one warning of extreme danger on the Morava River at Strážnice. Heavy rain, sometimes of around 5 centimetres in the last 24 hours, led to a flood alert in Šumava in the south-west of the country. The latest flooding has claimed at least three lives in Zlín and Brno. Some areas in northern Moravia and Silesia have been hit by flooding twice in the past two weeks.

Heavy rainfall has brought flooding back to the Czech Republic just as some localities were getting back to normal. Many of the same areas in Moravia hit two weeks ago were affected again with three lives lost, but flood warning have also been widened to new areas in the west of the country. The latest floods have left a trail of damage and desperation in their wake.

Heavy rain has sparked flood warnings and caused two deaths in Moravia. The worst situation on Wednesday morning was in the Zlín region where the highest, level three, flood danger warning applied at around half a dozen sites. The head of the regional authority there and in South Moravia have declared flood danger alerts for the whole area. At least three deaths have been linked to the latest floods. The body of a drowned person was found in Zlín and a 19 year old driver is believed to have died there after skidding in front of an oncoming lorry because of the conditions. Police also found the body of a drowned person in Brno. Earlier, the main problems were in north Moravia and Silesia. Around 70 children were evacuated from a school in Ostrava as a precautionary measure. Forecasters expect the rain to shift westwards during the day.

Members of the lower house have voted in favour of special government bonds totalling up to 3.0 billion crowns to help repair the damage from recent floods in Moravia. The vote on the flood bonds was subject to a special fast track procedure with the upper house, the Senate, due to discuss the issue next week. The bonds should be bought by the European Investment Bank which gives the Czech government better terms than offering them on the open market. The total bill for flood damages is estimated at up to 5.0 billion crowns by the Association of Czech Regions.

Following the recent floods in Moravia, the crisis response team has observed more than 15 cases of subsidence in the south Moravian Zlín region. In the town of Lidečko, a drinking-water pipeline that supplies tens of thousands of households in the area could be put out of service due to subsidence. The governor of the region said on Wednesday that several towns will remain in a state of emergency until the end of the month. In 1997, floods devastated the Moravian town of Troubky. Damages caused by this year’s floods are estimated to reach a billion-crown figure.