Damage Caused by the 1997 Floods, Its Repair and Proposed Alternatives of Flood Control Measures

Abstract

In early July 1997, the weather was characterized by the shift of a large depression from Britain, Scandinavia and southern France to the Czech Republic, and movements of the surrounding cold and the occluded fronts. Much of the subsequent damage and losses were caused by abundant rain in the Morava River spring area on July 4. In the four subsequent days, storm rainfalls occurred not only in the above area, but also in the eastern, central and north-westerly areas of the Morava River drainage area. The most widespread flooding began on 5 July 1997, and the first substantial flush of floodwater came on 7 and 8 July. The situation resulted in the worst flooding in Moravia in all its history. Due to the situation existing in July of that year, a substantial part of the rainwater left that area immediately and the runoff coefficient was very high (0.9 or even higher) during the critical days.