The Czech Republic was hit by wide-scale flooding across the country this weekend with the most severe conditions seen in the Moravia-Silesia Region and the north of the Olomouc Region Large-scale evacuations were required in Krnov 100-year peak flows were observed; thousands of residents had to leave their homes and some villages were completely cut off from the outside world due to flooded roads The Katerinky housing estate in Opava was inundated when the river overflowed Firefighters were using boats to rescue people who had not yet left The mountain village of Mala Upa in the eastern Krkonoše was inaccessible due to landslides Extreme flood emergencies were declared for two places in South Moravia and water was overflowing from the Husinec and Rimov reservoirs in South Bohemia Around 260,000 households in the country were without power on Sunday morning due to the bad weather with hundreds of faults reported on high-voltage lines around half of these had been reconnected; the majority of those still without power were in the Moravia-Silesia Region (76,000 households) and the Olomouc Region (29,000) There was also widespread disruption on roads and railways with transport operators urging their passengers to postpone their journeys if possible Firefighters in the Olomouc Region had evacuated about 1,900 residents as of yesterday afternoon and had to use boats in some rescue operations The inhabitants of Bohuslavice and Lestina in the Sumperk area were evacuated overnight on Saturday due to flooding on the Morava River Several hundred inhabitants of Ceska Ves in Jesenice and neighbouring Pisecna also had to leave their homes many residents refused the evacuation order leaving hundreds of people in flooded houses a town of 23,000 people in the foothills of the Jeseniky mountains was completely cut off from the outside world Regional Governor Josef Belica told CTK that the region and the fire service had sent an aid convoy to the town with food and drinking water brought by Tatra trucks that can drive through deep water we are ready to evacuate the entire town,” the governor added Krnov’s Deputy Mayor Miroslav Binar (ANO) estimated that 70-80% of the town was under water and the situation was much more serious than previous devastating floods in 1997 He said water was approaching the designated evacuation centres which would themselves have to be evacuated adding that the city could no longer effectively help its residents part of the D55 motorway in the Zlin Region was closed due to flooding on Sunday morning The D1 motorway was impassable at Bohumin in the Karvina area and was already closed around Ostrava by Saturday night Dozens of sections of railways were closed around the country where railway transport was almost paralysed At a press conference yesterday following a meeting of the Central Flood Commission Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Interior Minister Vit Rakusan asked citizens to heed calls to evacuate during the current floods; Fiala told CNN Prima News later that the situation should not be underestimated a helicopter was rescuing people who had refused to evacuate from rooftops and attics He appealed for the public to be reasonable and not cause unnecessary work for firefighters and emergency rescue services He said that a precautionary evacuation is better than people needing the help of a rescue helicopter in bad weather conditions as there was a great demand for emergency services in many parts of the country He said the same applied to those attempting to enjoy the stormy waters by engaging in leisure activities such as paddleboarding Firefighters and police officers rescued a man from the Vltava River in Prague yesterday who wanted to swim in the swollen river.  Environment Minister Petr Hladik (KDU-CSL) said that four people were missing and three in the Jeseniky area who were unaccounted for after their vehicle was washed into a waterway The Central Flood Commission has asked citizens who want to show solidarity with the affected areas to direct any material donations through the Czech Federation of Food Banks The firefighters currently do not have the capacity to coordinate aid According to Agriculture Minister Marek Vyborny (KDU-CSL) bottled drinking water is starting to run out in the affected areas villages along the Velička River around Hodonín were partially flooded there was also serious flooding of roads and properties at Podhradí nad Dyjí near Znojmo Antonín Tůma from Povodí Morava said that the heavy rainfall in Austria and in the Dyje basin causing sharp rises in water levels in the tributaries of the Vranovská Dam Grolich noted that precipitation in the vicinity of the Vranovská dam was almost twice that predicted by meteorologists on Saturday morning Water managers will gradually increase the outflow from the Vranovská dam to 150 and then up to 220 cubic metres of water per second According to estimates from the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (ČHMÚ) Veselí nad Moravou and Břeclav will start receding only on Thursday firefighters are building preventive barriers in Veselí na Moravou and strengthening the dam of the river Svratka in Vojkovice (Židlochovice) According to Povodí Morava’s estimates and outflow from the reservoir will therefore increase to around 90 m 3/s which could cause minor overflows into gardens in Jundrov The Svratka river in Židlochovice was declared to be at the third level of risk the river could rise to a maximum height of 530 centimetres the river should have reached its peak yesterday morning Rajhradice and Opatovice were the main settlements at risk Anti-flood bags were produced by firefighters and volunteers at the Brno Exhibition Grounds more anti-flood bags were made than needed then shared with other municipalities in South Moravia according to the forecast of meteorologists rain will continue in the south of Moravia “It doesn’t look 50 millimetres anymore but it could be up to 30 millimetres,” added Grolich the area is completely saturated and even minor rainfall could bring us problems We must also be prepared for the fact that a large amount of water will flow from Jeseníky into the Morava River a large amount will flow from Bečva.” police officers had to rescue a 36-year-old man who fell into the Svitava river at Mlýnské nábřeží when the river’s bank suddenly gave way Advertise with us Privacy Policy Brno Daily is a Czech media outlet for expats Our partners Sep 4, 2020 | History, Society The neighbouring Polish and Czech border towns of Cieszyn and Český Těšín which sit on opposite sides of the Olza river and were previously a single city are teaming up to symbolically reconstruct an old tram route that ran between them 100 years ago The plans are part of a wider revitalisation project to make the border towns more attractive and accessible to tourists which traversed the Friendship Bridge across the Olza with information boards erected at the location of former tram stops A replica of a tram car will placed by the river visible from both the Polish and Czech towns A regular passenger tram service ran through the town from 1911 when it was a single entity and part of the Austro-Hungarian empire after Cieszyn/Těšín divided into separate Polish and Czech towns following World War One choć częstotliwość aktualizacji z różnych przyczyn ostatnio spadła A teraz specjalnie dla Państwa tramwaj na Moście Głównym Opublikowany przez Tramwaje w Cieszynie/Těšínské tramvaje Piątek, 17 lipca 2020 There had been plans to restore the tram line itself But these were ruled out two years ago on account of their expense and technical difficulty “Construction activities will form the basis for the implementation of an innovative the aim of which will be to increase tourist traffic in Cieszyn and Český Těšín by commemorating the history of the former Cieszyn tram whose route used to connect both parts of our city,” said Cieszyn mayor Gabriela Staszkiewicz the historical tram line was also resurrected in a virtual exhibition another joint venture between the two border towns The project consisted of a series of bilingual display cases with archival photographs on both sides of the border as well as a projection of the tram on a building in Cieszyn The upcoming development plans will also include revitalisation of the area around the tram line in order to help the town “regain its splendour” Around 24 million zloty (€5.4 million) will be spent on the project in total as well as support from a Polish national programme for the reconstruction of local roads A co-financing agreement is also being drawn up to determine how much will be covered by EU funding The planned revitalisation of Cieszyn (© Palmett) The town has in the past been a source of conflict between the Poles and Czechs the newly emerged states of Poland and Czechoslovakia both laid claim to the town seeking its rich surroundings of coal and rail connections The two fought a brief war over the region in 1919 came up with a compromise – which was initially disputed by Czechoslovak powers – decreeing that the town should be split with the smaller western suburbs becoming Český Těšín the entire town became part of Poland following the annexation of Zaolzie leaving Cieszyn in Poland and Český Těšín in Czechoslovakia Official cooperation between the towns only began after 1990 when Poland and the Czech Republic joined the Schengen area border checks between the two sides towns were abolished Earlier this year, a group of Polish soldiers accidentally crossed a separate section of the border and briefly occupied a chapel on Czech side The Polish defence ministry blamed the situation on a “misunderstanding” Polish soldiers occupy chapel on Czech side of border in “misunderstanding” both towns bear the hallmarks of their dual national history Český Těšín is home to the only Polish secondary school in the Czech Republic and its Těšín Theatre has both Czech and Polish ensembles The film festival Kino na Granicy (Cinema on the Border) has also been held on both sides of the border since 1999 the towns were torn apart as a result of the coronavirus pandemic close ties between the communities have persisted Poles erected a sign in Czech facing the river This was soon followed by a response on the other side of the river Polish-Czech border in Cieszyn/TěšínIn Czech: We miss you, CzechsIn Polish: We miss you too, Poles <3 #Poland #Czechia #coronatime pic.twitter.com/1aFHtovIPn — Kinga Stanczuk (@KingaStanczuk) March 21, 2020 Border controls have also had a significant impact on the daily lives of many who commute between the towns for work protests took place at border crossings by individuals and families demanding a loosening of restrictions Juliette Bretan is a freelance journalist covering Polish and Eastern European current affairs and culture Her work has featured on the BBC World Service , , Karol Nawrocki even suggested that the state security services were involved in creating 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