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| August 13, 2002 |
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| Floods Hit Europe and Asia |
WASHINGTON - August 13, 2002. Devastating floods continued to wreak havoc throughout Europe and Asia.
In Prague, over 40,000 residents have evacuated after the Vltava River ran over its banks. The city is without electricity. Czech Prime Minister
Vladimir Spidla declared a state of emergency there and in Central Bohemia, South Bohemia, and the Pilsen and Carlsbad districts - only rescue workers are allowed in those areas.
Along the Black Sea coast of Russia, flooding killed 58 people and crops,
buildings, homes, and schools have been destroyed. Some 4,000 tourists were trapped in the popular coastal village of Shirokaya Balka.
In Italy, Premier Silvio Berlusconi provided $50 million in emergency aid to help alleviate the estimated $300 million in agricultural damage caused by heavy rain.
In North Korea, over 22,000 people have been left homeless from torrential rains and landslides. Roads, railways, and bridges have been damaged and thousands of acres of crops destroyed. Communication has been down in many areas of both South and North Korea.
In China, more than 900 people have been killed this year in seasonal
floods.
Meanwhile, a huge smog cloud is looming over southern Asia. The two-mile high cloud of ash, acids, aerosols, and other particiles is a result of forest fires; burning of agricultural wastes; increases in the burning of fossil fules in vehicles, industries, and power stations; and emissions from millions of inefficient cookers. Hundreds of thousands of people are threatened with respiratory diseases. |
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