Rescuers help residents of Opava, Czech Republic stranded by floods

(15 Sep 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Opava, Czech Republic - 15 September 2024
1. Wide of a rescuer pulling a rescued man on a raft
2. Close of rescued man
3. Wide of rescuers with rescued man sitting on raft
4. Close of trash bin in water
5. Close of road sign under water
6. SOUNDBITE (Czech): Jindrich Stefek, rescue team
“We were rescuing people that were two meters above us on a roof. There are other people trapped in front of it, but the current is very strong. We have been trying to get there, to figure out an alternative way to reach them because the current is too strong for the boats."
7. Wide of rescue team walking into water with raft
8. Close of rescuer drinking a beverage
9. Mid of rescuers rowing on boat
10. Various of rescue team with two women they rescued
11. SOUNDBITE (Czech) Radim Slovak, Opava resident:
“It is a catastrophe of great scale, all the neighbourhoods around the river are flooded including Katerinky. I live on the other side of Opava, so I am safe here. It will take long for the people to deal with the consequences, and we'll have to help them out."
12. Mid of two women walking barefoot
13. Various of van stuck in water
14. Various of people fleeing the area
15. Various of flooded street
STORYLINE:
Up to 10-thousand people out of a population of around 56-thousand have been asked to leave their homes for higher ground in the city of Opava in Czech Republic as the country battles with heavy flooding.

Rescuers used boats to transport people to safety as neighbourhoods were flooded by the raging Opava River.

“It is a catastrophe of great scale, all the neighborhoods around the river are flooded including Katerinky. I live on the other side of Opava, so I am safe here. It will take long for the people to deal with the consequences, and we'll have to help them out," Radim Slovak, an Opava resident, said.

Rescue worker Jindrich Stefek said they were searching for alternative ways to save people when currents are too strong for the boats.

Mayor Tomáš Navrátil told Czech public radio that the situation was worse than during the last devastating floods in 1997, known as the “flood of the century.”

“We have to focus on saving lives,” Prime Minister Petr Fiala told Czech public television on Sunday. His government was set to meet Monday to assess the damages.

The worst “is not behind us yet,” the prime minister warned as the flooding made its way through the country.

AP Video by Jan Gebert

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