Rising rivers cause floods across Central Europe

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=f4fca90458bb2550

Rain and melting snow is swelling rivers and flooding towns across Central Europe.

There were at least five reported deaths and thousands of homes had to be evacuated.

As in some neighboring countries, residents in Hungary's capital Budapest are working around the clock to fill sand bags in a desperate fight against the rising water of the Danube river.

Of particular concern to authorities is Budapest's Margaret Island, a popular tourist spot and famous for its thermal baths, medical treatment, and luxury hotels.
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[Igel]

1. Ah, not again.

It was just a few years that the Vltava did damage Josefuv and the area north of the Letna and other sections of Prague, as well as Olomouc and some smaller cities. I never heard if the Sazava had flooded much, but it probably did.

http://zpravy.idnes.cz/foto.asp?r=domaci&c=A060330_060743_domaci_nad for pictures of flooding in Olomouc. (A nifty little town, has a decent university.)

http://www.voda.mze.cz/cz/ has a regional drainage basin map of the Cz republic, 0 (dark green) = normal) 2 (light green) = watch, 2 (yellow) = prepare, 3 (red) = danger.

[noonwitch]

2. God, please don't destroy the other city I want to see in my lifetime

You took New Orleans right after I bought a new car and was planning a trip to see it.

Please don't take Prague before I have enough money to go there and see the sights!

[smirkymonkey]

4. I'm with you - my next trip is Eastern Europe - I have been wanting

to go for years! Prague especially! Also, New Orleans was the only other place in the US that I wanted to see as well. Of course, the real tragedy is for the people who live there, but tourist dollars is what keeps many of these places afloat (no pun intended).
boo hoo! :scared:

[Igel]

5. I love Prague.

London, too noisy and crowded for my taste. Helsinki ... bleah.

But then again, I fell in love with the Cz Republic while studying there one summer, and went back for longer the following summer and stayed with a family. Czech's my 2nd Slavic language (I demoted Serbian to #3).

They recovered from the flooding a few years ago; most what was flooded in Prague wasn't historic, they did a lot to save Old Town, and the old 'castle' (much less the older castle) is above anything likely to flood. But some parts of Mala strana ('the little side') got hit.

If you get to Prague, avoid the pizza, don't even think of getting spaghetti or Czech-Mex, but do order the fried cheese (smazeny syr) with beer and the obligatory french fries (fritky) and tartar sauce (tartarka). The cheese is ersatz Edam. It sounds nasty, but the beer cuts the grease.

Also get out of the capital and look at the country. Biking in the north, near Liberec and Jablonec, is worth it (skiing, if it's in the winter--go for Xmas, the locals say it's worth it), hiking in the Beskydy to the east is fun in decent weather, exploring Olomouc and Brno is worth a couple of days, and get down to Ceske Budejovice and Cesky Krumlov. And each beer pub outside of touristy areas at least used to only have one brand of beer; sample many pubs, if you like beer. Avoid the red wine; the white wine is ok.

[smirkymonkey]

6. Sounds great!

I can't wait to go and I appreciate the travel advice. I studied in Vienna, Austria and went to Hungary while I was there but never made it to the Czech Repulic, which I greatly regretted. Hopefully, if the economy doesn't completely tank in the next year, I will have enough saved to go!

Thanks again :hi:

[Copperred]

3. Is a European FLOOD MAP available online?

To show this area and which are the FLOOD ZONES...?

[Odin2005]

7. The Red River of the North is flooding again too.

It's looking like '97 all over again, The Year of the Flood 2.0 We went from lots of snow to almost no smow in less than 2 weeks! :wow:

[Copperred]

8. Flood Maps Online?? Anyone....?

[hatrack]

9. The Danube already broke its 2002 record in Budapest

And 2002 was supposedly a "500-year flood". Maybe they need to alter their measurements?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x48921

[Copperred]

10. If anyone has historical flood maps for Europe...thanks!!!

Many Blessings!!!