SMS message from a friend in Prague: Aug 13th, 2002, 6:59pm

SMS
message from a friend in Prague : Aug 13th, 2002, 6:59pm

electricity gone – water rising 1 metres an hour

E-mail from a friend in Prague : Aug 15th, 2002, 9:43pm



A
substantial portion of Prague is closed. Barricades are
set up and anyone found within the flood zones is removed
and dropped on the doorstop of a place very similar to the
one I just arrived home from. Prague is full of schools
as every good city should be, but there is a bit of roll
reversal as of Wednesday as they are full of old people.
Pensioners typically don’t have much money here (communist
era pensions weren’t indexed) and can’t afford hotels or
have given up their country cottages to the next generation
so they have no ‘secondary’ place to stay.



Today
was an interesting day at school for the pensioners as they
all learned that they won’t be going home for at least a
week.



This evening they were handing out combs, toothbrushes,
towels, etc., but most of the pensioners were thinking about
home. Particularly, who is still at home; dogs, cats, birds
and quite frightfully, prescription medicines. Usually,
dogs went with the owners, but if the dog was in the flat
while the owner was out after the flooding hit, the dog
is still in the flat. I went with one older lady for a long
walk towards her home with a can of cat food only to be
turned back by the police as they are quite reasonably trying
to control who they let in and out. To get in, you get in
line and get loaded into a truck where they take you to
your flat, let you do what you need and take you out again,
but the line was so long that night would fall before we
got into the truck. We’ll try again in the morning.



When
we returned to the school, I became a cab driver as one
old woman had neglected to tell anyone that her kidneys
would fail if she didn’t take her evening pill. She assumed
she would be back home tonight so didn’t take them with
her. We ran her to an emergency clinic for an emergency
shot and then off to an emergency pharmacy to put in an
order for her pills which should show up tomorrow afternoon.




Tomorrow the pensioners all start a third day on a single
change of clothing.



The
water is dropping, but it’s no where near over yet. Two
buildings collapsed in the Karlin district this afternoon
and a ruptured tank at a chemical factory released a cloud
of chlorine that is lurking about the countryside some 20
km from Prague

collection of goods for flood relief
in Prague

raccolta x alluvione praga