Opening of the exhibition “20 years since the flood” in Kampa Park: Hřib helped with the barriers, the father of the High Commissioner of Prague made it through in good health
Kampa Island was one of the locations heavily affected by the floods that raged in Prague exactly twenty years ago. Now, symbolically, an exterior exhibition called 20 years since the flood is being held here. On 20 panels, authentic photographs from the flood in 2002 are presented, which are accompanied by a comparison with pictures by Radoslav Vnenčák. The exhibition will move from Kampa Park to Holešovice on September 22. The choice of the location of the Exhibition Center Prague was not random, the area of Holešovice and Bubenche was also ranked among the most flood-affected areas in Prague twenty years ago.
Since the flood, the city has invested in anti-flood measures. “Thanks to this, the floods were a certain milestone for the development of the city. Districts that were significantly affected, such as Holešovice, Karlín, have experienced great development since then,” Says the current mayor. The anti-flood protection proved its worth even 11 years later during other major floods that hit the capital of the Czech Republic. A Lego-like puzzle helps with a lot of water. It measures up to 6 kilometers.
Flood vs. “student” Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates)
At the time when the “thousand-year” water rushed into Prague, the current mayor, Zdeněk Hřib, was staying as a student in university accommodation. He was listening to the news on the radio. He had one of the first mobile phones, a Nokia 3210, so he called friends and acquaintances. “At the time, I was in the dormitories in the South City, and there we were arguing with my friends about how we would go to help as volunteers at the center and how we would solve the situation,” remembers the Hřib flood.
Finally, they went out into the field. “We were filling sandbags, but I think the flood has overtaken them all expectations and because of this Karlín and Holešovice were flooded. Unfortunately, the water overflowed our bags, but we tried,” Mayor Hřib tells Blesk. And they weren’t alone. Even in the following coronavirus or refugee crisis, the solidarity of the people of Prague was said to have shown itself again. “It can be seen that when necessary, we get together. We stick together and do what it takes,” supplies.
The unfortunate statement of the then mayor Igor Němec
The statement of Mayor Igor Němec went down in history when he declared at 7 pm on August 13, 2002: “I would say that Prague is not threatened. The situation is, I would say, exceedingly excellent.’ The day after, great water flooded Karlín and the Prague metro. The Vltava in Prague reached a flow of 5,160 cubic meters per second in Velká Chuchla at 12 o’clock at a water level of 782 cm. According to the current mayor of Hřiby, the statement is a frightening example of crisis communication.
“I would just like to say that Prague and the city’s crisis management have lost their way since then,” smiles Zdeněk Hřib. Not only were flood defenses built, but the city’s emergency communications also underwent a change. “We have come a long way since this statement, which became popular and entered crisis communication textbooks as not very successful, and if we compare it with the city’s crisis communication, whether during covid or during the refugee crisis, I dare say that the difference is visible there “, he adds.
Current department directors who helped 20 years ago
“Unfortunately, I remember the flood in great detail. I experienced it both in 1997 and in 2002 in Prague. Because the experiences are so strong that you carry them with you for the rest of your life.” says the current director of the city police, Eduard Šuster. During the Prague floods, they allegedly helped feed the animals in the zoo, which could not be evacuated. Now, within a year, police officers, together with other units, practice the work necessary during floods.
The director of the Prague rescue service, Petr Kolouch, is happy that not a single human life was lost during the flood, everyone managed to be saved. However, they dealt with a lot of stress reactions. “However, we did not deal with resuscitation based on drowning,” he recalls. The director of the Prague fire department, Luděk Prudil, was working in Prague 1 in Bartolomejska Street during the floods. During the flood in 2002, it is said that the laws prepared for a crisis situation could be verified to a large extent.
Do you know that most people drown completely silently? Videohub
The exhibition 20 years since the flood consists of 20 panels with photos. They resemble the floods of 2002. Both Karlín and Holešovice were flooded.
Author: Jan Dařílek