mercy

The Czech govenment is asking that travelers to Prague and the Republic postpone their trips due to the severe flooding and consequent lack of services. A good time for that travel insurance!

Rex

This will not make sense for more than few days. The economic impact of this will be rough, and they are going to want all those tourist "dollars" they can get, in just a very few days.<BR><BR>Tourism is a fundamental form of economic relief.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Anne

Rex, with all due respect, I think perhaps you have never been in a flooded area. This appears to be a catastrophic flood. They will be dealing with refugees and restoring basic services for several weeks. Being in a flood-prone area (New Orleans), I know that even after minor flooding it can take the city a few days to get back to normal. With something of this magnitude, it sounds like it will be a few days before the floods even slow down, then several weeks of clean up. I can't imagine trying to deal with tourists at the same time...I'm with the original poster ... time for trip insurance. I'm heading to Austria in 8 weeks, and hope that we will not have to miss any of our planned spots due to this natural disaster. My thoughts and prayers are with the people who live in this area.<BR><BR>Anne

Georgine

Rex,<BR><BR>I would recommend you read the story and view the pictures of the "serious" flooding problem in Eastern Europe<BR>on cnn.com.<BR><BR>I agree wholeheartedly with Anne's comments---unless you have lived through serious flooding with its labor intensive aftermath, you can't give objective advice on this travel issue.<BR><BR>Once you view the pictures and see: <BR><BR>Devil's Island in Prague with only treetops showing.<BR><BR>Water so high--and getting worse --that there is concern if Charles Bridge can be saved.<BR><BR>Water to the tops of SUV's in the historic section of Cesky Krumlov.<BR><BR>The magnificent main square in Ceske <BR>Budjeovice under 6 feet of water.<BR><BR>Etc., etc., etc.<BR><BR>We have our next European holiday scheduled for mid-October, and I will definitely be checking with the tourist offices in Regensburg and Passau, Germany to make certain those towns are up and running---clean-up completed with all public services repaired and functioning---and,if not,we'll make a modification in part of our itinerary.<BR><BR><BR><BR>

Anita

Georgine, Go to www.spiegel.de and click on "Europa, eine Seenlandschaft" and you'll see several pictures of the flooded cities of Passau, Dresden, etc. It looks grim and there's no end in sight. Should be ok by the time of your trip, though. <BR>Best wishes!

Rex

I have not lived through a flood, and if to the extent that I am wrong about the time frame, then I retract my position and apologize.<BR><BR>I am/was influenced to a certain extent by similar comments on www.frommers.com (a few years ago?) about tourism in Latin America as one of the most needed things after floods, mudslides, hurricanes and earthquakes.<BR><BR>If this is a case of not knowing what I am talking about, I need to step up and say so.<BR><BR>There ARE merchants that will want those tourist dollars SOON - - but maybe it is more like weeks (or a month or more?), not days.<BR><BR>The Czech government will know best, and I did not mean to suggest that I am smarter than they.<BR><BR>But those thinking of fall travel plans - - say September 15 onward, would not be doing the CR a favor to stay away, would they?<BR>

Bill

Before this thread gets deleted...<BR><BR>&lt;&lt;About 70,000 inhabitants of the capital's 1 million people left their homes, city officials said.&gt;&gt;<BR><BR>So, those other 93% will need to get back to business as usual sooner rather than later. Which includes tourism. And that tourism revenue will go a long way towards helping the 7% who have homes to reclaim.<BR>

rob

I have scheduled a visit to Prague for in mid-September. I have reserved a hotel room and have a flight that departs from Prague. Should I rearrange my travel plans to avoid Prague?

From

Thank you, Fodors.<BR><BR>I hope there is an influx of visitors, at the appropriate time, from many different countries to help Prague recover from this tragedy.<BR><BR>Next week would probably be as good a time as any.<BR>

elina

Now the water has filled Prague´s metrotunnels, and that means the whole transportation system is crippled. All the cables also run in metro tunnels, so that could end up to mean a cut in communication system.

Bill

This news is 24 hours (or more) old.<BR><BR>http://travel.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,7445,773940,00.html<BR><BR>but note the use of the phrase "in the next couple of days"<BR><BR>People booked on holidays to Prague and the southern Czech republic in the next couple of days should be able to cancel their trips free of charge, according to the Association of British Travel Agents. <BR><BR>ABTA said: "We advise people due to travel to contact their tour operator. But Prague tends to be a city break destination outside of the main summer season, so we hope not too many people will be affected."<BR>

todd

This isn't just any flood, it's a catastrophic once in 500 years type flood --- per CNN story, http://europe.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/08/14/floods.prague/index.html<BR>50,000 people have been evacuated from Prague.<BR><BR>rob, I'd definitely rearrange your travel plans to avoid Prague next month. This is going to take longer than a few weeks to clean up and recover.<BR>

Lian

http://www.ckrumlov.cz/obrgal/20020808/index.html#2<BR><BR>Photos from Cesky Krumlov show the seriousness of the situation there. Can't believe I was there just 1 month ago with perfect weather conditions. Heck the river was knee high!<BR><BR>Lian

water-water

Sigh ... guess I'll have to wait until next year to get there.<BR>

lia

The weather there is unbelievable- I am just back. I can't see them getting back to anywhere near normality for at least a month...

xxx

Any relevant updates on this? Clean-up and recovery progress reports?<BR>

Marc David Miller

First hand news available from:<BR><BR>www.praguepost.com

todd

Marc,<BR><BR>Good site. The waters are receding and cleanup is underway. As per article on The Prague Post, clean-up is expected to take months.<BR>

Rex

That doesn't mean that tourists and the currencies they bring, wanting to support the Czech economy, should stay away for months, does it?<BR><BR>It surely means that travelers going to CR need to have a new attitude - - neither gawking at an accident scene, nor bringing baskets of pity. Likewise, no inappropriate expectations.<BR><BR>But as I said in my very first post here, staying away in droves, for weeks and months, is surely not the answer either.<BR>

Marc David Miller

This is what the Czech Center New York (associated with the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs) is telling people:<BR><BR>"We strongly recommend all travelers to postpone their travel plans to the affected areas, especially Prague, Cesk&yacute; Krumlov, and Northern Bohemia, until mid-September."<BR><BR>www.czechcenter.com/Travel-News.htm