The mid-September floods broke the 127-year-old Czech record for rainfall per day in one place, as 386 millimetres of water, or 386 litres per square metre, fell in Loucna nad Desnou in the Olomouc region on 14 September, according to the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMU).
This level of precipitation broke the previous record from 1897 by about 40 millimetres.
It rained heavily for several days in September, raising waterways across the Czech Republic. The floods caused damage worth tens of billions of crowns. Five people have been confirmed dead and several more are missing.
“The daily rainfall total of 386 millimetres can be considered the new highest measured daily total on our territory,” the meteorologists said. The data was captured by the Loucna nad Desnou/Svycarna station, located in the Jeseniky Mountains at an altitude of 1,306 metres.
The previous highest ever rainfall recorded in one day was 345.1 millimetres, measured on 29 July 1897 at the Bedrichov/Nova Louka station in the Liberec region.
“We always put the data into the national database after the end of the month, which is why we only discovered this record now,” said CHMU on Friday.
The precipitation was at its most extreme on Saturday, 14 September. In the Jeseniky Mountains alone, meteorologists measured around 300 millimetres of precipitation in several places during the day, including Adolfovice (337 millimetres), Lazne Lipova (305 millimetres at one station and 284 millimetres at another, and Hermanovice (283 millimetres).
The Olomouc and Moravia-Silesia Regions were the most affected by this year’s flooding, and towns and villages are still struggling with the consequences. The residents of the town of Jesenik only had drinkable water restored to their taps this weekend, and part of the town is still without gas. In Ostrava, the central wastewater treatment plant is out of operation. Some municipalities, such as Holcovice, have seen landslides occur in the wake of the floods.
