Electricity and water supplies are starting to be restored in Czechia’s Jeseník region, while gas remains a problem

The last few hundred customers in the north of the Olomouc Region are still without electricity 11 days after the catastrophic floods. Energy workers are now making slower progress than in the first days after the waters receded, as they are working in hard-to-reach terrain. The situation is most difficult in Mikulovice, Česká Ves and Písečná, ČEZ energy group spokesperson Vladislav Sobol told CTK today. The water situation is improving, with supplies gradually being restored. However, gas remains a major problem because pipelines were destroyed, and many households rely on it for heating, CTK found.

„As of 10:00, we had recorded eight faults on the high-voltage network and 11 on the low-voltage network in the Olomouc Region; only a few hundred customers are still without power. To repair the fallen poles, we have to get heavy machinery close to them, which is very challenging in most cases. The ground is often waterlogged, so heavy machinery cannot reach the site, and in some places the water washed away access roads,“ Sobol said, describing the situation on the ground.

He added that energy workers are trying to provide power supplies on an ad hoc basis using backup sources, working with firefighters and the emergency response teams of individual municipalities.

Water supplies are already being restored in many places. In Česká Ves, residents called the restoration of the water supply a miracle on Tuesday, although the water is still suitable only for non-drinking purposes. In Vápenná, by contrast, water remains the biggest problem. „Only around 30 percent of households are connected to the water supply, which is in a disastrous state. We are making temporary repairs to damaged service connections,“ the village’s mayor, Leoš Hannig, told CTK today. „We announced that people could shower in municipalities where the water supply was working—the Žulová primary school and the Černá Voda sports ground. I also requested mobile showers from the emergency response team, but they have not arrived yet. We are the worst off in the microregion when it comes to water supply,“ the mayor added. He noted that bottled water was still being distributed, as tap water was not yet drinkable.

On Tuesday, public health inspectors also tested water quality in the municipalities of Mikulovice, Velká Kraš, Bernartice, Uhelná, Kobylá nad Vidnavkou, Černá Voda, Vápenná and Branná, taking drinking water samples from the water supply systems. „The samples were then sent to a laboratory for microbiological analysis,“ Lenka Pešáková, director of the Olomouc Regional Public Health Authority, told CTK.

Gas remains a problem in the affected region, as floods destroyed pipelines in many places along with other infrastructure. „Resolving this issue is one of many priorities that will be addressed in the coming hours and days,“ regional representatives told CTK after a meeting of the emergency response team. Mayors of municipalities told CTK this week that many households rely on gas for heating, and they are concerned about the arrival of winter.