Floodwaters continued to threaten Czech towns and villages in the north and south-east, preventing thousands of people from returning to their homes.

RIVERS, swollen by rain and melting snow, forced hundreds of residents in the Czech Republic and Germany to flee their homes yesterday.

Day in and out, Frantisek Danihel steers his ferry back and forth over the slow-moving Morava River, linking what were two separate worlds only a year ago - the European Union and its aspiring members.