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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?

The agriculture ministry said the Czech Republic would invest 4 billion Czech crowns in flood prevention by 2005. The investment will be covered partly from the state budget and from a loan from the European Investment Bank.

Emergency shelters have been set up in many parts of the country and psychologists are helping flood victims to deal with the crisis. Telephone help lines and counselling centres are working around the clock. The mayor of Prague has advised people not to return to their homes too soon, since parts of the Czech capital are expected to remain without electricity and gas, clean water and food supplies for some time.

In Prague the river Vltava appears to be falling, after earlier fears it would engulf the city's historic Old Town. The last round of evacuations took place in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Residents of the Old Town and Josefov districts - home to Prague's ancient Jewish quarter - were forced to leave their homes, and emergency workers erected sandbag walls to protect the National Theatre and the Old Town Square. Streets in the Mala Strana, Karlin, Smichov and Holesovice districts are underwater.

The floods have affected many areas of the Czech Republic. In southern and western Bohemia water levels are gradually falling, but other regions are bracing themselves for further floods. In the South Moravian town of Znojmo 5,000 residents have been evacuated as a flood wave approaches the town. Some of the most serious flooding is currently in Central Bohemia. The town centre of Kralupy nad Vltavou, a few kilometres north of Prague, is underwater and 3,000 people have been forced to leave their homes. Floods are expected in the northern town of Usti nad Labem but reports say residents are ignoring police appeals for them to move to temporary shelters.