Floodwaters continue to threaten Czech villages

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

Some rivers, however, started receding slowly.

The flooding began last week because of quickly melting snow in the Czech mountains and rain in most of the country.

Authorities warned yesterday that floods in the Czech Republic would last for at least another week, as more snow was expected to melt in the mountains.

Near the Elbe River, 1,500 people in the Usti region remained evacuated yesterday, including 400 people with homes in low-lying areas in the northern town of Usti nad Labem.

Police were guarding the homes to prevent looting.

The city of Hrensko, on the border with Germany, was completely immersed in water and remained sealed off by police, and authorities said the Elbe may still rise in nearby Decin.

Dozens of roads remained closed to traffic throughout the country.

The Spolana chemical factory in Neratovice, 18 miles north of Prague, said it may restart production this week, after halting work on Thursday morning to prevent chemicals from spilling into the Elbe.

About 10 per cent of the plant’s premises were still underwater yesterday.

Water levels in the Morava River near the eastern town of Olomouc were decreasing, but still threatening at least three villages downriver.

In the south, more than 1,000 people remained evacuated yesterday after the swollen Luznice and Nezarka rivers flooded their homes.

In the capital, about 90 people who earlier had to evacuated Prague’s Zbraslav neighbourhood, on the southern outskirts, were allowed to return home as water in the Vltava river was falling.