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Article: Flooding in Europe takes a very real toll on people's lives.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- August 20, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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CESKY KRUMLOV, Czech Republic _ If the great European flood of 2002 had a single starting point, it may have been here in the 13th-century town of Cesky Krumlov, or the Crooked Czech Meadow.
The Vltava River, which nearly loops back on itself as it purls around Cesky Krumlov, is much favored by carp fishermen and summertime canoeists. But two weeks ago, swollen by heavy rains in the peat bogs and pine forests of South Bohemia, the pleasant thread of the Vltava became a noose around the neck of the town.
From here, the water raced downstream, inflicting as much as $20 billion in damage and killing 109 people. In places such as Cesky Krumlov the damage is ...