More than 42,000 customers remain without power after widespread flooding in Czechia, with numbers falling

More than 42,000 customers remain without electricity due to the widespread flooding that has been affecting Czechia since the weekend. The largest number are without power in the Moravian-Silesian Region – around 37,000. This is according to data from distributors ČEZ and E.ON. The number of households without electricity is falling; the situation was apparently at its worst on Sunday morning, when 260,000 households were without power due to adverse weather, compared with 61,000 on Tuesday morning. ČEZ Distribuce estimates preliminary damage at 65 million crowns, its spokesperson Soňa Holingerová told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) today.

Extensive and devastating floods caused by persistent rain have hit the Moravian-Silesian Region and the north of the Olomouc Region in particular, but rivers have swollen across the country, with the exception of western and northwestern Bohemia. Before 07:00 today, 104 locations had reached a flood alert level. On Sunday afternoon, when the situation was at its worst, there were more than 270.

„This morning, we recorded 77 faults on high-voltage lines, and 42,000 locations are without power,“ Holingerová said.

The company has also made a preliminary estimate of the damage, which stands at around 65 million crowns, according to the spokesperson. „This is a preliminary damage estimate that will be refined further,“ she added.

In the Moravian-Silesian Region, 37,000 households remain without power, and in the Olomouc Region, 5,100. Work could now accelerate, according to the spokesperson, as the company transferred fault-repair crews from western, central and northern Bohemia to Moravia on Tuesday. „They will help colleagues in the Moravian-Silesian Region clean distribution equipment, speeding up the work,“ the spokesperson said. The situation remains difficult in places such as the Bohumín area, she said, where there is still water in the substation; the substation in Krnov is also awaiting cleaning.

The spokesperson also noted that faults on low-voltage lines could still emerge in the coming days, potentially causing further tree falls. People also report faults with a delay, particularly at recreational properties.

EG.D, an E.ON Group distribution company operating mainly in the south of Bohemia and Moravia, still has 200 customers without electricity in South Moravia. „The situation there has not changed since Tuesday evening. The affected locations are in the Znojmo area and around the Moravian Karst; most are more remote places that we cannot currently reach with our equipment,“ E.ON spokesperson Roman Šperňák told the Czech News Agency. Hundreds of customers are without power in South Bohemia, but according to the spokesperson this is mostly due to preventive disconnections because of high water levels on the Lužnice River.

The emergency status remains in effect in ten districts across two regions in ČEZ’s distribution area, while distribution company EG.D has declared an emergency in the districts of Uherské Hradiště, Prostějov and Znojmo.