Once in a century? Try once a decade.

June 3, 2013 1:23 AM

So, as we in Prague brace for what is expected to be a river breach later today, our minds wander back to the last time this happened. We've learned a lot since the disaster of 2002, so no one is being caught off guard. In fact, some are even taking advantage of this once a decade opportunity. For those looking for up-to-the-minute updates in english, there is a facebook group you might want to follow, or google+ coverage for those so inclined.
posted by jadayne (21 comments total)

Good luck! How long till the next time?
posted by Segundus at 3:15 AM on June 3, 2013

The Google+ link goes to a Facebook page.
posted by NoMich at 4:05 AM on June 3, 2013

Hope you aren't put put by the weather too much. My wife's mate who has a house by the river is going to be swamped for the fourth time in 10 years. The name of the town she lives in translates as "Wet Dogs" so that maybe should have been a hint.
posted by Gratishades at 4:08 AM on June 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

Europe must have excellent historical records. Is this abnormal?
posted by panaceanot at 4:13 AM on June 3, 2013

Fairly abnormal, I guess. The stream gauge in Passau today measured 12.50 meters, which broke the previous record flood level of 12.20 meters recorded in 1501. (They start sending warnings when water levels pass the 7 meters mark.)
posted by brokkr at 4:31 AM on June 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

Webcam comparison (anigif) of Passau yesterday and at normal water levels. Here's a nice timelapse video made from the same webcam over the weekend.
posted by brokkr at 4:37 AM on June 3, 2013 [6 favorites]

Wow, I visited Praha for the first time in June of last year. Loved it. Had no idea of what happened in 2002. Best wishes to everyone.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 5:01 AM on June 3, 2013

Gah! I lived in Prague in 2005 and watched them doing practice runs with the metal walling on the river while on my way to work. Fingers crossed!
posted by halcyonday at 5:09 AM on June 3, 2013

> Here's a nice timelapse video made from the same webcam over the weekend.

"Nice" is an creative word choice...

It's interesting to watch the traffic in the lower left corner of the frame. It looks like people had no qualms about driving into the water, up until the traffic backed up too far to allow anybody out.
posted by ardgedee at 6:01 AM on June 3, 2013

Once in a century? Try once a decade.

The Rhine flooded in 1993, 1994, and 1995.

1993: The Rhine Floods Worst in Century

1994: HEAVY RAIN CAUSES NEW RHINE FLOODS

1995: Dozens Die as Floods Wash Across Northwestern Europe
posted by three blind mice at 6:02 AM on June 3, 2013

I live about 100 m from the Rhine (thankfully quite far upstream) and it's incredible right now. Normally in early June people are sitting on the bank and starting to swim down it. Currently there is no bank, just heaps of sandbags above a kind of brown torrent that would be exciting for white water rafters, and the only thing coming down are whole trees.
posted by Isn't in each artist (7) at 6:28 AM on June 3, 2013 [2 favorites]

Gallery of photos of the high water in central Basel. Theres normally about a metre and a half of space when you swim under the jetty in the first photo.
posted by Isn't in each artist (7) at 6:37 AM on June 3, 2013

Gallery of photos of the high water in central Basel. Theres normally about a metre and a half of space when you swim under the jetty in the first photo.

Eep.

There's a lot of water going through our teeny river here too, though as it is tiny under all circumstances, it's on a different scale. Still, higher than anyone remembers and carrying whole trees as well. The weather here has simply been unbelievable, starting from October (2012). We've broken all records for rainfall. Not at all surprised to hear that bigger rivers are overflowing, hope everything turns out all right.
posted by fraula at 6:42 AM on June 3, 2013

Not just underwater, but deep under.
Dear Lord.
posted by SLC Mom at 7:41 AM on June 3, 2013

Isn't in each artist (7): "I live about 100 m from the Rhine (thankfully quite far upstream) and it's incredible right now."

I'm sitting 500 km downstream from you, and here it's two centimetres from flooding the first parts of town. Ships going upstream are moving at 2-3 km/h and carry huge bow waves. The current is incredible.
posted by brokkr at 7:43 AM on June 3, 2013

ardgedee: "It's interesting to watch the traffic in the lower left corner of the frame. It looks like people had no qualms about driving into the water, up until the traffic backed up too far to allow anybody out."

It's quite possible they were simply trying to save their cars by parking on the last small spots of dry land. The webcam is overlooking a rather narrow strip of land between two rivers. (The green arrow indicates approximate webcam position.)
posted by brokkr at 7:53 AM on June 3, 2013

Thanks for this; I love Prague and hope it comes through OK. (I can't believe there wasn't a MeFi post about the 2002 floods, but the "prague" tag doesn't find a single post in 2002.)
posted by languagehat at 9:04 AM on June 3, 2013

Well the rain stopped for now, but there's a rather ominous bank of clouds moving in from Poland. We're due for another 100mm of rain tomorrow. We'll see if she holds.
posted by jadayne at 12:25 PM on June 3, 2013

The guy wakeboarding looks like he's having fun, but 'round here when it floods that badly, the sewers tend to back up and contaminate the flood water. Is that not the case here? Otherwise, ewww.
posted by xedrik at 8:12 PM on June 3, 2013

yeah. In prague the water is still technically drinkable, but in the villages it's full of all kinds of nasty stuff.
posted by jadayne at 12:25 AM on June 4, 2013

Donau rising in Linz, Austria: view from inside^{(warning: Facebook video)} the Lentos Art Museum.
posted by brokkr at 3:01 AM on June 4, 2013