 Flooded Elbe inDresden August 2002 | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Duration | August 2002 (2002-08) |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | 232[1] |
| Damage | €27.7 billion |
| Areas affected |
|
In August 2002, a week of intenserainfall producedflooding across a large portion ofEurope. It reached theCzech Republic,Italy,Spain,Austria,Germany,Slovakia,Hungary,Romania,Bulgaria,Croatia,Ukraine andRussia.[2] The event killed 232 people and left€27.7 billion (US$27.115 billion) in damage.[1] The flood was of a magnitude expected to occur roughlyonce a century.[3] Flood heights unknown sinceSt. Mary Magdalene's flood were recorded.[4]
Flooding resulted from the passage of twoGenoa low pressure systems (named Hanne and Ilse by theFree University of Berlin) which brought warm moist air from the Mediterranean northwards.[5] The effects ofEl Niño may have contributed.[6] The floods gradually moved eastwards along theDanube, although the damage in the large cities on its shores was not as severe as in the areas affected by the floods later.
When the rainfall moved northeast to theBohemian Forest and the source areas of theElbe andVltava rivers, the results were catastrophic water levels first in the Austrian areas ofMühlviertel andWaldviertel and later in the Czech Republic,Thuringia andSaxony. Several villages in NorthernBohemia, Thuringia and Saxony were more or less destroyed by rivers changing their courses or massively overflowing their banks.
The floods were part of a larger system that was also affecting Asia.[7] Several rivers in the region, including theVltava,Elbe andDanube reached record highs.[8]
Prague received significant damage from what were deemed to be the worst floods ever to hit the capital. The flow of Vltava culminated at 5300 m³/s, 20% more than during the flood of 1845. Among the regions of the capital city most severely affected wereKarlín,Kampa,Holešovice andLibeň, where there was a significant risk of building collapse.[9] Most of Prague's artwork was saved due to warning of high water levels,[10] but there was significant damage to thePrague Metro subway system, much of which was completely flooded,[11] as well as to the historicPrague pneumatic post, which was forced to cease operation.[12]
The collections of the National Library of the Czech Republic and the Prague Municipal Library were inundated. Despite the chaos and lack of preparation, Czech librarians and archivists were able to send a significant percentage of their flooded collections to be frozen, thus staving off immediate destruction of these historic collections by water or mold.[13]
TheTerezín Memorial[14] andPrague's Jewish Quarter also received significant damage,[15] a part of the estimated $30 million in damage to Czech cultural sites including: the Prague Municipal Library,Malá Strana, theNational Theatre andTerezín.[16]
The evacuations before the worst of the flooding have been cited as one of the reasons for relatively little loss of life in the capital.[17] An estimated 40,000 people were evacuated from Prague.[18] Among the animal deaths resulting from the flood was Gaston, a sea lion from the Prague Zoo who swam to Germany following the flooding of his aquarium. For some time, it was believed he would survive, but he died following capture in Dresden.[19]
In total, 17 people died in the Czech Republic due to the floods, and damage from the flood was estimated at between 70 and 73 billionCzech koruna.[20][21] The damage to the Prague Metro has been estimated at approximately 7 billion Kč.[22]
Germany was the hardest hit, with over two-thirds of the flood's total losses.[23] The 10 years of renovation work that had been carried out since reunification in 1990 in the town ofGrimma, in the formerEast Germany, were said to have been destroyed in one night.[24]
Dresden received significant damage when theElbe River reached an all-time high of 9.4 meters (30.8 feet). More than 30,000 people were evacuated from various neighborhoods throughout the city and some of the city's cultural landmarks were considered to be at risk.[8]
Dresden'sZwinger Palace, home to a significant number of Europe's artistic treasures includingRaphael'sSistine Madonna, was at risk from the flooding Elbe; however, all of the artwork was saved.[25] The Semper Opera House also suffered damage.
TheBlack Sea Coast region was among the most severely hit regions ofRussia with significant loss of life due to a tornado that hit the tourist region and destroyed homes.[26] This was after earlier summer floods in southern Russia. All told, damage in the region was calculated at more than $400 million.[27]
Although all of Europe was affected to some degree by the record rainfall, some cities were spared the severe flooding that hit Dresden and Prague.
Although the Danube reached record highs, bothBratislava andVienna were spared significant flooding. Bratislava's flood protection measures withstood the water,[28] while it was generally believed thatVienna was spared significant damage due tothe city's engineering, and plans were undertaken to see if such work could be applied to the other cities as well.[29]
Once the water levels returned to normal and residents returned to their homes, they faced not only the damage left by the flood waters but also threats of disease due to decaying waste and food. The danger increased due to flooding of sewage treatment plants and the risk of damage to chemical plants.[30]
European leaders gathered in Berlin to discuss the effects of the floods and to create a better understanding of how to prevent such disasters in the future. This meeting garnered some criticism, as Russia, which had suffered significant damage, was not invited to what was billed as a meeting of EU members and future members.[31] The EU leaders did promise aid to the central European countries that suffered the most under the floods with money coming from the EU's structural budget and this outreach to non-members was seen as symbolic to portray a truly united Europe.[32]
Media related toFlood in Central Europe (2002) at Wikimedia Commons