More evacuations in Prague as floodwaters recede in north

Czech authorities have ordered new evacuations in the capital Prague, fearing further buildings in the flood-ravaged city could…

Czech authorities have ordered new evacuations in the capital Prague, fearing further buildings in the flood-ravaged city could collapse.

The evacuations were ordered for Karlin neighborhood, an area of the city most affected by the worst floods in living memory and where three buildings have already crumbled.

An apparently unoccupied multi-story apartment building collapsed overnight in Karlin. Authorities have said at least 10 structures will have to be destroyed because of severe flood damage.

On the river Elbe meanwhile in the northern Czech Republic floodwaters are receding faster than expected, having fallen around 2.5 meters since their high point.

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The river stood at 9.5 meters in northern Bohemia, about half a meter below the predicted level, after devastating floods swept through most of the Czech Republic, causing tens of millions of dollars in damage.

Several of the 6,000 evacuees from the industrial town of Usti-nad-Labem near the Czech-German border were beginning to return to their homes, though many houses in the surrounding area have collapsed from the waters.

The Elbe was set to fall to six meters by the middle of the week, and a huge lake the river and its tributary the Ohre have formed was also beginning to recede.

AFP