Czech labour offices have so far paid out over CZK 100 million in emergency aid after the severe flooding that affected mainly the north of Moravia in mid-September, Labour and Social Affairs Minister Marian Jurecka told journalists during a visit to the flood-hit Jesenik area.
Jurecka (KDU-CSL) said earlier that most of the applications for assistance were from the Moravia-Silesia and Olomouc regions.
Anyone whose house or flat has been flooded is entitled to emergency aid, the minister said.
He also stressed that Labour Office clerks were not supposed to examine the financial situation of the applicants, and if this happened somewhere and they refused to pay the aid, applicants should contact the authorities. He added that he had encountered such a case in recent days.
The emergency flood aid comes in three types. The flood emergency relates to people whose homes or flats have been damaged by water, where the authorities are trying to provide the maximum amount of money possible; the sum paid in this case is around CZK 60,000.
Other types of aid are intended for people in material distress, such as people with lower incomes whose situation has been complicated by the floods, and then support for other costs related to the consequences of the floods.
Jurecka arrived in the Jesenik area along with Agriculture Minister Marek Vyborny and Environment Minister Petr Hladik (both KDU-CSL). They also discussed how to help people with demolition and alternative housing while repairing their homes.
With winter approaching, it is also necessary to provide heating and gas supplies and to deal with extra electricity costs due to the use of dehumidifiers, among other things, Jurecka said, adding that assistance to flood-affected companies and traders is also being addressed.
Thousands of clients, both households and firms, in the flooded Jesenik locality will be without gas supplies this winter, after the floods damaged dozens of kilometres of gas pipelines in this mountainous district two weeks ago.
Hladik said that the state would help provide an alternative solution. The options are an alternative gas supply or increased use of electricity for heating and water heating. Caution is needed to ensure that the power distribution system can cope with the increased use of electric heaters, Hladik noted.
Gas network operators said the floods put 210 kilometres of pipelines out of service in the Jesenik area.
A state of emergency is currently in place in nine of the most affected municipalities, including Jesenik and Bela pod Bezdezem, and it will take several weeks for gas companies to reconnect the supply there, GasNet company spokesman Tomas Pernis told CTK. However, the gas supply to the Jesenik hospital and the Social Services Centre has been restored.
The Czech state will offer people living in the flood zone in the Jesenik area to exchange their land for state properties in safe areas suitable for building houses away from the risk of flooding. This will reduce the risk of people considering moving from the vicinity to other parts of the Olomouc Region, Vyborny told reporters.
The State Land Office is already working on a study to identify suitable building plots in the area, he added.
The swollen Bela River damaged many houses, especially in Jesenik and its surroundings. Around 40 are awaiting demolition, and other properties may follow.
