FLOODS IN CENTRAL EUROPE


Meissen city in Saxony (Photo: Wikipedia)

Experts are blaming it on the winter of heavy snowfall and a warm and rainy start to spring. Higher temperatures are thawing snow which still carpets in high mountains from where the rivers originate. After 2002 the Central European countries are facing floods this year from the swelled waters of the rivers Danube, Elbe and their tributaries. Seven people have died in the Czech Republic and two in Slovakia.

I was watching the TV coverage of the floods in the Saxony reason of Germany, close to the Czech border where the river Elbe is taking its toll. The assessments can only be done after the water recedes but experts say that damages can go more than €15 million in Saxony alone.

Coming from a land of the floods, these scenes do not surprise me. But I can see that the extent of damage is heavy as all modern infrastructures cost much. As one report showed one meat seller was devastated by the 2002 as his shop was damaged badly. He then started again with loans and state help and this time he lost it all again. He is not sure whether he could start again. The state governor said that the flood victims in Saxony can expect state aid if needed.

However there are much critique in an Spiegel Online report that the damages could have been avoided were it not for stubborn residents, greedy politicians and the short-sighted agriculture lobby.

It is ironical that whether it is a rich country or poor country, nobody can escape nature's devastation. You are helpless at some point irrespective of whatever your preparations are.