Like in a disaster movie: 134 animals did not survive the flood in 2002 at the Prague Zoo
“We were wading through water, rain was pounding on the polycarbonate roof, a helicopter was flying overhead, sirens were sounding and calls for evacuation. And at that moment, you realized that you are inside some kind of disaster movie that is becoming reality,” recalls Petr Velenský, curator of reptiles.
At the bottom station of the cable car, it shows two lines. “The bottom flag, which I still can’t reach by a meter, is the flood of 2013. And the top one, which is disappearing against the sky, is the flood of 2002. Even for me now, it is difficult to imagine what I experienced here, it is unbelievable .”
Flood protection measures
The water in the Prague Zoo reached a height of eight meters, and 134 animals did not survive the floods. The garden is currently protected against high water by an embankment, and to mitigate possible damage, the pavilions in the lower part of the area, built from waterproof materials, have been repaired to reduce possible damage.
“Flood plans were also created from that experience, which describe very precisely what needs to be done, emergency and evacuation are declared. Everyone knows what to do, in what order the animals are evacuated and so on,” explains the director of the Prague Zoo, Miroslav Bobek.
According to him, the evacuation of animals would still be problematic in the event of further floods. In the future, the Prague Zoo should therefore be protected by a new flood wall.
One of the authors of the proposal is Marek Kundrata from the Prague Institute of Planning and Development: “The current embankment, which protects the zoo for about fifteen years of water, will be partially moved. There will be a much smoother access to the water, so it will be possible to hide and build the anti-flood wall, which will roughly be on the current fence of today’s zoo.”
Prague councilors will decide on the proposal at the end of August. The entire transformation of the Trojská kotlina is then represented by an exhibition on the quay in front of the Trojská chateau called Touch the river, which will be accessible until the end of October.