The August floods of 2002 affected a large part of Central Europe, including Czechia, where they caused extensive flooding of Prague and other areas in the Vltava and Elbe basins.
The flood in Czechia in 2002 was a large-scale inundation that in August of that year affected mainly areas in the basins of the Vltava and the Elbe. According to the Czech Statistical Office, its beginning is linked to heavy rains in the Alps, which at the start of August caused the Danube and its tributaries to swell [1].
Causes and course
The rain cloud then moved north-east, and from 6 to 7 August 2002 it rained intensely in southern Bohemia. Over the following three days the rain weakened and occurred mainly in the border areas of western and northern Bohemia and in the Moravian-Silesian Region [1]. From 11 August 2002 a new frontal wave affected the whole territory of Czechia, moving very slowly from south-west to north-east for several days. In Bohemia the rain stopped on 14 August 2002, in Moravia and in Silesia three days later [1]. According to the source, the soil was saturated by the earlier rainfall and the reservoirs were full, so they were unable to take up the new surge of water, which led to a rise in river levels. The most affected areas were the territories in the Vltava and Elbe basins, especially downstream of their confluence [1].
Impact in Prague
The high water reached Prague on the afternoon of Tuesday 13 August 2002 and peaked the following day. The Vltava overflowed its banks and flooded streets and houses in a wide belt along its channel [1]. The flood inundated 17 Prague Metro stations, destroyed the lower part of the zoo in Troja and caused damage to infrastructure. The most affected parts of the city were Holešovice, Karlín and Libeň, where the area around the river bend became a vast lake from whose surface only the tops of traffic signs and traffic lights protruded, while the ground floors of buildings, in places even the first floors, were under water [1]. According to a comparison with historical sources and flood marks on bridges and buildings, this flood was the second largest in Prague since flood data have been recorded; the Vltava reached a higher discharge only in 1432 [1].
Damage and casualties
Besides Czechia, the flood also affected Germany, Austria, Hungary and Romania. According to RNDr. Jakub Langhammer of the Faculty of Science at Charles University, 250 thousand people were evacuated in connection with the high water in August 2002, 55 people died and total damage reached USD 20 billion [1]. The Ministerstvo životního prostředí estimated the damage in Czechia at CZK 73 billion [1].
Impact on the Czech Statistical Office
In 2002 the Czech Statistical Office was based in Karlín, in a three-storey complex of buildings by the Invalidovna metro station. Following a warning from the crisis staff, on Monday 12 August 2002 the office's staff moved computing equipment and other devices from ground-floor offices onto desks and cabinets and rearranged the books in the library onto upper shelves, because a rise of the water level of at most 70 centimetres above street level was expected [1]. During the night from Monday to Tuesday the evacuation of Karlín was ordered, so employees could not reach their workplaces for several days. The first inspection could take place only on Friday, and according to the source its results were dreadful: water had flooded the entire ground floor and reached several tens of centimetres above the floors on the first floor, and all furnishings and equipment of the offices were destroyed [1]. In the following days and weeks the office's employees set about cleaning up, trying to save what could be saved [1].
Sources
- Český statistický úřad — 3 August 2022