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It's still too early to put a final figure on the damage done by this week's severe floods, as many towns and cities across the country remain underwater. The country's infrastructure has suffered considerable damage, with roads washed away, bridges swept into the river, factories and power stations flooded. Here in Prague it was announced that the metro system has been so badly affected, it could be months before it's running normally again. Rob Cameron has more.

A man watching the police blow up a stray cargo boat on the river Elbe on Thursday morning was killed by shrapnel. A special police commando was ordered to sink four cargo boats which had floated out of control in the floods and threatened to damage bridges along the river. The man was one of several onlookers who gathered to witness the operation but it is not clear whether he disregarded police instructions and crossed into an off limits zone for a better view. He is said to have died on the spot.

As water levels in south and central Bohemia recede, towns along the river Elbe in north Bohemia are still bracing for the worst . The swollen river is expected to peak sometime on Friday. Emergency crews and volunteers have been working hard to minimize the damage. In the town of Usti nad Labem the banks of the river are piled high with sandbags and the town's mayor has asked the defense ministry for armored vehicles to help anchor barges on the river.

The mayor of Prague Igor Nemec has warned the inhabitants of evacuated districts not to return to their homes before they are declared safe. Two four storey houses in the flooded district of Karlin collapsed early on Thursday causing concern over potential casualties. Rescue workers searching the area , said no one appeared to have been hurt in the incident since the houses had been standing empty, slated for demolition. The authorities are now worried about the state of other flood damaged buildings whose inhabitants might have disregarded the evacuation order and remained in their homes.

A third degree chemical alert was called in the north Bohemian town of Neratovice on Thursday following a leak of poisonous chlorine gas from the flood damaged Spolana chemical factory. The inhabitants of the town were ordered off the streets and warned to keep their windows closed. Chemical experts who measured the amount of chlorine in the air for several hours said evacuation would not be necessary since the amount measured was not considered a health risk. Chlorine is deadly to humans in high concentrations and was used as a chemical weapon in World War One. Greenpeace activists have expressed concern about possible contamination of the river Elbe if poisonous dioxins and 250,000 kg of mercury stored at the Spolana chemical plant should leak.

Offers for financial help have started coming from abroad. Several European countries offered help individually. Besides that, the European Commissioner for enlargement..

Now that the floods are beginning to recede in at least some parts of the country, experts are beginning to tally up the cost of damages, already estimated at over 2 billion dollars. The big question on everyone's mind now is whether victims in the flooded regions were properly covered before the disaster. Although the country's insurance companies have been overwhelmed by a large number of claims, the answer is no. Many of those whose property has been damaged by the unexpected floods, viewed flood insurance as an unnecessary waste of money. The

The Czech crown depreciated in the past few days due to concerns about the effects of the disastrous floods in the Czech Republic. After several week of steady appreciation, the crown's exchange rate fell...

Of course now the floods are receding, people will be asking why they hit the Czech Republic with such intensity, and whether more could have been done to prevent them. Is the present system of reservoirs and dams on the Vltava and other rivers sufficient? Should the landscape be altered to provide maximum protection against floods? My colleague Rob Cameron joins me in the studio now, Rob, was the damage we've seen over last week inevitable?