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Fears of major flooding in east of the Czech Republic became a reality late Monday as the Central Moravian town of Troubky was inundated. While that town was being evacuated, a state of emergency has been declared in 16 other locations around Moravia. The rain continues to fall, but meteorologists monitoring the situation hope that the worst is over.

The Czech government has offered 800 soldiers to help with the clean-up caused by floods and high winds across the east of the country. The offer followed an emergency meeting of the cabinet called to discuss crisis measures on Monday. One of the worst hit regions, the Moravia-Silesia region, made an immediate demand for 500 soldiers to help it recover from the damage caused by ongoing flooding.

The Moravia-Silesia region earlier declared a state of alert with special flood committees meeting in three of the worst affect towns and cities: Karviná, Český Těšín and Třinec. Parts of Karviná, Ostrava and Valašké Meziříčí have been evacuated with road and rail services cut across the region. Authorities said on Monday afternoon that safety levels at two smaller reservoirs in Moravia-Silesia had been passed and water flows could no longer be regulated.

The floods have claimed one victim, a 69-year-old woman who drowned in the garden of her home in Třinec on Sunday after the River Olše burst its banks. With many rivers at danger levels, the forecast is for rain to continue until Tuesday evening. Power companies have also declared an emergency situation in the Moravia-Silesia and Zlín regions after falling power lines left around 10,000 people without electricity.

Parts of Moravia have been hit by flooding, with rivers swelling to increasingly dangerous levels. So far flooding has resulted in at least one death and seen hundreds of people evacuated. Further complicating the situation are strong winds and heavy rainfall which have knocked out power in around ten thousand homes. Meanwhile, meteorologists warn that the situation is not likely to let up any time soon.

Heavy rains are expected to continue in parts of the Czech Republic over the next couple of days. Forecasters said Moravia, Silesia and the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands would see high levels of rainfall until Tuesday morning, with the Pardubice and Hradec Kralové regions also likely to experience persistent downpours. Flooding is a significant threat in some areas. A number of rivers were rising fast on Sunday evening, with some having reached the highest level of flood alert and more expected to follow.

Persistent rain over the past 48 hours has swollen rivers and streams in southern Bohemia putting half a dozen villages on flood alert. The town of Rychnov has reported the most serious problems so far, with a local stream flooding a number of houses and nearby fields. People living in the vicinity of swollen rivers have been piling sandbags along the banks for protection. Meteorologists say the region has seen the worst of the bad weather, with the belt of rain expected to move to the eastern parts of the country over the weekend.

Melting snow and storms during the week swelled rivers around the country, and a state of flood readiness has been announced for the Orlice river, in the north, and Dyje river in the southeast. Low-level warnings issued throughout the week still apply to 27 other rivers around the country. Nonetheless the number of warnings has slowly declined from 34 last Tuesday. Dams have been opened in several places to lower the levels of the reservoirs. Flooding is the most common natural disaster that the Czech Republic faces. Parts of Northern Moravia are still recovering from the last serious inundation, which struck in June of 2009.

Following a marked rise in temperatures, around half of the snow that was lying in the Czech Republic a week ago has now melted, the Czech Hydro-Meteorological Institute said on Tuesday. About a billion cubic metres of snow turned to water in a seven-day period. However, snow remains in mountainous areas, meaning the threat of flooding has been largely avoided. Forecasters said they expected the thaw to continue in the coming days. There were heavy snowfalls around the country early this year, with the capital Prague seeing the most snow in three decades.

Meteorologists have issued low-level flood warnings on 26 rivers around the Czech Republic, as melting snow caused by the high temperatures of recent days continues to raise water levels. The Třebůvka in Moravia is now under a 2nd degree (mid-level) warning. Elsewhere 1st degree alerts are in place in other parts of the country, including the Elbe River in northern Bohemia. This winter saw snowfall within norms, specialists have said, but a higher concentration in cities like the Czech capital, where snow only began disappearing with the coming of milder conditions in recent days.

Melting snows across the country have now raised water levels on rivers in 18 areas leading meteorologists to issue low-level flood warnings. A 2nd degree warning (a mid-level alert) is in place on the Radbuza in western Bohemia. 1st degree alerts are also in place in other parts of the country, including the Labe (Elbe) River in northern Bohemia. This winter saw snowfall within norms, specialists have said, but a higher concentration in cities like the Czech capital, where snow only began disappearing with the coming of milder conditions in recent days.

Melting snows across the country have raised water levels on rivers in 14 areas leading meteorologists to issue flood warnings. A 2nd degree warning (a mid-level alert) is in place on the Novohrádka – a river near Chrudim. 1st degree alerts are also in place in other parts of eastern Bohemia, as well as the west of the country. This winter saw snowfall within norms, specialists have said, but a higher concentration in cities like the Czech capital, where snow only began disappearing with coming spring conditions over the last several days.