Storm Boris and the Held River

JAN 01 2024 · 12:00

The Vltava through Prague, held within the post-2002 flood defenses during the 2024 Storm Boris event. Place: Karlín, Holešovice, Troja; Vltava embankment Figures: Storm Boris, low-pressure system · Bohuslav Svoboda, Mayor of Prague · Petr Fiala, Prime Minister A slow-moving Genoese cyclone stalls over Central Europe for four days in mid-September. Parts of Moravia and Silesia (Opava, Krnov, Ostrava) receive a month's rain in 48 hours; Polish Kłodzko and Austrian Lower Austria suffer the worst flooding since 1997. The Vltava swells, but Prague braces. On the night of 14 September, the Prague mobile flood barriers go up at Karlín, Holešovice, and Malá Strana. The Vltava peaks at 1,700 cubic meters per second on 16 September — well below the 2002 peak of 5,300 cubic meters per second (see [[prague-2000-floods]]). Metro stays open. The Zoo evacuates ungulates as a precaution, this time successfully.