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Fighting Floods
Thu Apr 24, 2003
Listen in RealAudio 
After witnessing the worst flooding in 500 years, Central European officials are trying to be
better prepared for future events. Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton for The Weather Notebook. Charles
Michael Ray has this story on flood recovery from the Czech capital of Prague.
Last summer the Vltava River which cuts through the Czech Republic swelled to more than 30
times its normal flow. The record-breaking flood caused billions of dollars in damage across
central Europe. A study is now being completed on what can be learned from the floods, and how
to best prepare for future disasters of this type. Ivan Obrusnik with the Czech
Hydro-Meteorological service says Europe faces a special challenge because of the high
population density that is built up next to many of the major rivers.
IO: The problem here is that we are a relatively highly populated country, so we don't have
enough space. You cannot so easily move if your house is flooded, you cannot find another
area to build a new one. And it's some proverb which is saying that it's not good to move the
water from people, but it's better to move people from the water. I think it's still
valid.
Obrusnik says more river flow gauges will be installed to better monitor river discharge in a
flood event; he adds that dikes are also being erected, and he says that in some cases
structures are being moved out of the flood plain. Obrusnik says one of the most important
jobs now is to record the data from the flood so future generations will be able to prepare
for events like this.
The Weather Notebook comes to you from New Hampshire's Mount Washington Observatory -- home of
the world's worst weather -- at www.mountwashington.org. We receive support from Subaru of
America and the National Science Foundation.
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