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In August of 2002 devastating floods swept through the Czech Republic leaving behind a trail of destruction and despair. You could hear a pin drop this week as an audience of EU representatives, investors and town hall officials watched a video documenting the post-flood operations. Nevertheless, the occasion was a happy one - marking the end of flood repair work. Czech officials expressed gratitude for the EU's generous and speedy support during and after the crisis- and the head of the EU delegation to the Czech Republic Mr. Ralf Dreyer commended

It took Czech museums and galleries more than a year and a half to recover from the devastating flood of 2002. On Thursday last week, one of the last damaged museums reopened its complete exposition. On the same day, the National Museum in Prague introduced an exhibition illustrating the damage caused by the flood.

Nobody is to face charges in connection with the flooding of the Prague metro system in August last year. A source told the CTK news agency on Tuesday that while police found a crime had been committed, they had not found the evidence needed to charge anybody. Some seven billion crowns worth of damage was done during the flooding, which knocked out parts of the metro system for several months.

Those of you who either live in Prague or have visited the city have surely wondered what the big white stately building on Kampa Park on the left bank of the Vltava River houses. Known to locals as the Sova Mill, named after one of its 15th century owners, Vaclav Sova, it was abandoned and left to its own fate for years until prominent art collector Meda Mladek decided to turn it into a museum.

In this week's Arts, Dita Asiedu looks at how the Terezin Memorial is faring one year after the devastating floods, invites you to a film festival in the town of terezin and an exhibition of photographs in Prague, and reports why Czech President Vaclav Klaus may have to wait longer than expected before moving into his office at Prague Castle:

It's amazing how a single animal can rivet the public's attention as we all saw last weekend with the christening of a small seal named Abeba at the Prague Zoo. This creature's claim to fame: that she was the pup of the famous Gaston, the adult male who escaped from the zoo last year when the Vltava river broke its banks and Prague saw floods it hadn't experienced for five hundred years. During those dramatic August days we surveyed Gaston's run for freedom, making it all the way to Dresden before finally being recovered by zoo keepers to be returned

August 15 - 18 2002 are days that will remain in the minds of the people of Terezin for many years to come. Not only because they still have vivid memories of the horrors they endured when water from the Elbe and Ohre rivers swept through their property, but also because many are still living in temporary housing, waiting for their homes to dry out.

The largest Czech insurance company, Ceska pojistovna, said on Wednesday that it had settled 94% of claims filed in connection with the floods which hit the Czech Republic exactly a year ago. A spokesman said the company had handled over 50,000 claims amounting to some 9.1 billion crowns.

August the 13th, 2002, is a day most people in Prague won't forget in a hurry - it began with wailing sirens and ended with the biggest deluge the Czech capital had seen in five hundred years. Exactly one year ago Prague woke up to find parts of the city underwater, and the effects of those "five hundred year" floods are still with us today.

Since 1957, the grounds of Roztoky Chateau, just a few kilometres north of Prague, have been used to house exhibitions. At the time, the chateau became the seat of the newly founded local History and Geography Museum. In the mid-1970s, it expanded and had to buy two more exhibition spaces. The nearby Brauner Mill and the studio of Czech painter Zdenka Braunerova were added to its premises. After reconstruction work in 1981, the museum's management, new administration, and workshops, which included a conservation lab, were moved into the main chateau