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Earlier Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla sought to reassure the public over the situation on the country's rivers, saying there was no danger of a repeat of the devastation of August. Mr Spidla said he was aware of the tension which had arisen in recent days, but told the public the situation was being constantly monitored and was under control. The prime minister said new anti-flood measures were being prepared and will draw upon 3.7 billion crowns made available by the European Solidarity Fund.

Towns and villages in north Bohemia were bracing themselves for flooding on Saturday, after heavy rain and melting snow caused rivers to burst their banks. As water levels slowly return to normal in the rest of the country, the northern city of Usti nad Labem was preparing for a wave of floodwater from the swollen river Elbe. Officials are also closely monitoring the River Vltava in Prague, where villages on the outskirts of the city have already been flooded. There has also been isolated flooding in southern and western Bohemia. The worst floods in five hundred years devastated large areas of the Czech Republic in August, leaving more than a dozen people dead and causing several billion dollars of damage.

Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla has said there is no danger that rising river levels in areas of Bohemia will lead to floods like those which caused devastation in August. Mr Spidla said on Friday that he was aware of the tension which had arisen over the rising river levels in recent days but reassured the public the situation was being constantly monitored and was under control. New anti-flood measures are being prepared and will draw upon 3.7 billion Czech crowns made available by the European Solidarity Fund, said the prime minister. The worst-hit river at the present time is the Vltava, which should be at it's highest in Prague around 10 o'clock on Friday evening.

The past week saw much excitement in the Czech Republic. Besides the New Year, it brought frosty weather, high winds, floods, and rain, taking Czechs by surprise. Whilst people slithered and skated as they tried to make their way across icy sidewalks last Friday, they had to pull out their umbrellas and put away their winter coats on Monday, only to wrap up in their wind-proof jackets on Thursday. Dita Asiedu has more:

Only one day remains until the end of 2002, a year which has brought events both good and not so positive for the Czech Republic. In August, devastating floods hit parts of the country causing damage worth tens of billions of crowns. In November the Czech Republic hosted a historic NATO summit during which the Alliance invited seven East European states, and a month later, the country was invited to join the European Union, together with nine other countries, at the EU summit in Copenhagen. And what can the Czech Republic expect in 2003, after

Four months after devastating floods hit much of the Czech Republic, the country still has its hands full recovering from the damage. With the winter having set in, those living in the flood-affected areas are waiting to see whether their buildings will survive the freezing temperatures. Dita Asiedu reports:

The European Commission has called for 728 million euros in aid to help repair flood damage in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and France. Officials said agreement on the package by EU governments and the European Parliament could come as early as next week, with the funds being made available by the end of the year. The newly-created one billion euro European Union Solidarity Fund will provide 444 million euros in EU help for Germany, 134 million euros for Austria, 129 million euros for the Czech Republic and 21 million euros for France. The packages will be used to restore vital equipment and infrastructure destroyed by floods that devastated many parts of Europe in August this year.

"The World Summit on Sustainable Development has concluded successfully", reads a headline on the summit's official website. The Johannesburg summit took place shortly after the devastating floods hit the Czech Republic in mid-August. While the conference received a lot of attention from news organisations around the world, with the Czech media still focused on the aftermath of the floods, the World Summit went largely unnoticed in the Czech Republic, to the great disappointment of the Czech delegation.

Another building was closed down in Prague's Karlin district on Monday after security checks proved it no longer safe. This brings the total number of flood-damaged buildings in the district to forty-three. In Prague, Karlin was most hit by the devastating floods in August. Out of its 25,000 inhabitants, only some 30% have been allowed to return to their homes. The rest are either staying with friends and relatives or have been given alternate provisional housing.

An unusual requiem mass took place on All-Souls Day in the Trinity Church close to the Vltava in Prague, remembering all those who lost their lives in rivers across the country, especially the seventeen victims of the August floods. The mass was organised by an interesting club with a very long tradition.