Heavy storms cause local flooding

Storms, torrential rain and strong winds that hit the Czech Republic over the weekend have swollen rivers and caused local flooding across the country. Some two thousand households in western Bohemia remain without electricity supplies after falling trees broke transmission lines. In southern Moravia, fire brigades pumped rainwater from some 50 houses. Heavy rain has swollen rivers in several places around the country, with flood alerts declared in several parts of southern Moravia, eastern Bohemia and other regions. Temperatures dropped by around 10 degrees Celsius over the weekend.

A night storm interrupted the music festival Colours of Ostrava on Saturday night when organizers turned off electricity for an hour for safety reasons. The performance by the headliners, the Irish band The Cranberries, was delayed by an hour, while the show of UK’s Brendan Perry was cancelled.