Krnov, Czech Republic, after the floods: Romani civil society distributes food and aids with cleanup using their own resources
A group of Romani volunteers was involved last weekend with aiding flood victims in Krnov, Czech Republic, where thousands of people remain without electricity and water. On Sunday, 22 September 2024, four Romani civil society groups from various parts of the Czech Republic visited the afflicted area to provide material and physical support. The volunteers distributed food and actively joined in cleaning up the town. Krnov is among the towns most affected by the flooding. As much as 80 % of its territory ended up underwater.
The aid efforts there were joined by the Roma Association of Hradec Králové (Roma spolek Hradec Králové), the Roma Association of Náchod (Roma spolek Náchod), the Angels Message organization (Poselství Andělů) and the Jaroměř Social Center (Jaroměřské sociální centrum). They financed their trip themselves without any support from public collections or other financial donations.
“We organized and realized this entire effort from our own resources, without any financial support or public collections. We believe our common approach contributed to improving the situation of the local population and encouraging their determination to come to terms with the consequences of the flood,” volunteer Dana Chromeková told news server Romea.cz.
Thousands of Krnov residents are still without electricity one week after the destructive floods. No potable water is running anywhere in town. The broken boiler rooms in some buildings will at least be replaced in some locations by electric space heaters. Mayor Tomáš Hradil (Krnovští patrioti – Krnov Patriots) informed the Czech News Agency (ČTK) of that plan on Monday, 23 September.
“The entire Pod Cvilínem housing estate, where thousands of people live, is without electricity. They estimate that right now 20-30 % of the population is without power,” Hradil said. However, there are problems even in places where power has already been restored. “There is electricity in some locations, but the output is quite weak,” the mayor said.
The mayor also said the town is without heating and hot water. With the aid of the Regional Authority he wants to acquire hundreds of electric space heaters and supply them to households. “We still don’t have potable water yet. The springs are still polluted,” Hradil said. Some services are starting to be restored, though. Some shops have opened with limited hours.
