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There's a Czech saying that goes "v nouzi poznas pritele" - the equivalent of the English saying "a friend in need is a friend indeed". For months now, or I should say years, we've been reporting on the Czech Republic's controversies with Germany and Austria. Mainly the Temelin nuclear power plant dispute and the so called Benes decrees controversy. Sometimes the exchange is so angry and the caliber so heavy it suggests the central European neighbors are at war. However the three had no reason to doubt their mutual loyalty in time of trouble.

Insurance companies operating in the Czech Republic have increased flood damage estimates to 30.7 billion crowns. The number of claims has been reduced from 132,000 to 104,000, as registered by the Czech Insurers' Association. The overall damage caused by the floods across the Czech Republic is estimated at 90-100 billion crowns. Insurance companies expect to cover up to 1/3 of the damage. So far, insurers have paid their flood-stricken clients around 2 billion crowns, mostly in advance payments.

Prague Zoo, severely damaged by the recent floods, is going to reopen to visitors on Saturday morning. People will be able to see parts of the zoo which remained untouched by water, as well as a small part of the flooded area which has been restored. The zoo is going to display photographs of the recent events and install boxes around the site where visitors can donate money towards the recovery of the zoo. Approximately 400 animals had to be relocated to other zoos around the Czech Republic after the flood which had caused the death of close to a hundred animals, mostly birds.

The first cases of infectious diseases have occurred in the Czech Republic in the wake of recent floods in the country. Health officials say people have contracted flood-related diseases mostly during clean-up operations when they have worked without protective gear.

The Austrian President Thomas Klestil arrived in the South Moravian town of Znojmo on Thursday, for a day of talks with his Czech counterpart Vaclav Havel. Relations between the two neighbours have been strained recently, amid disputes over the Temelin nuclear power plant in South Bohemia and the post-war Benes decrees, which sanctioned the expulsion of Czechoslovakia's large ethnic German population. Thursday's meeting was an attempt to build on the solidarity shown between people in the two countries during the recent floods. Here's what President

The threat of dangerous infections including hepatitis A, salmonella, and dysentery is expected to continue for 2-3 months in areas in the Czech Republic that were hit by last month's floods. Michael Vit, the chief health inspector of the Czech Republic told journalists on Thursday that it was therefore essential for citizens in those areas to take proper steps to safeguard their health. The chief health inspector said that all children between the ages of three and five in the flood-hit areas would receive vaccines against hepatitis A. Vit added that three weeks after the floods fears of possible epidemics in the Czech Republic remained unfounded. So far, five patients have been infected with light cases of bacterial infection in south Bohemia; while two cases of suspected hepatitis A have not yet been confirmed.

Japan and Taiwan have joined the multitude of countries that have provided financial aid to the flood-afflicted Czech Republic. Kyoto, Japan, which is Prague's sister city, has provided a financial gift of one million yens for the renewal of Prague.

Until three weeks ago the Museum of Central Bohemia was one of the most interesting and dynamic smaller museums in the Czech Republic. Housed in the little town of Roztoky, just outside Prague, it included unique archaeological collections, several permanent exhibitions and a huge number of historic artifacts from Central Bohemia. Then on the 13th August the waters of the River Vltava swept through the museum, floods that hadn't been seen here for five hundred years. With the waters now subsided, David Vaughan visited the museum to

Insurance companies operating in the Czech Republic have revised flood damage estimates upward. The two largest insurers alone estimate the damage their clients incurred during the disastrous floods in August at almost 20 billion Czech crowns.