Flooding state of emergency in seven Czech regions

The Czech cabinet has declared a state of emergency in seven regions, allowing easier handling of the flood crisis caused by rising rivers.

The measure makes decision-making faster, but also limits some rights such as freedom of movement to facilitate evacuation of the hardest-hit areas.

Evacuation of some 1000 residents in the village of Novosedly, 125 miles south-east of Prague was underway this morning as the region was threatened by the swelling Dyje and Jevisovka rivers.

In the North, the city of Hrensko, on the border with Germany, was completely immersed in water and sealed off by the police as the Elbe river continued to rise.

The Elbe also continued its dramatic rise up river in the town of Usti nad Labem, closing one of the city bridges and flooding several areas. Authorities expected the river to peak somewhere near 9 metres above the usual level today.