Czech Floods 2024: Helping People in Affected Areas
Published: Oct 29, 2024 Reading time: 3 minutes
Although the majority of damage and debris from the floods has been cleared away, a substainal amount of renovation and reconstruction is still required. Fortunately, we are working closely with the NGOs Adra, Diakonie ČCE, the Czech Red Cross and Caritas to provide financial assistance to the regions hit hardest by the floods.
Donations are greatly appreciated. If you are able, please consider contributing to our SOS Floods CZ appeal and help us get these family's lives back on track.
The mud has been cleared away and properities are slowly drying out. Nevertheless, people are nervous about the cold weather ahead and worry that their houses will not be habituable in time for winter. Much of peoples' coal and wood supplies were washed away by water and a large number of boilers were flooded. Dehumidification and heating are two major issues that people are struggling with right now. Additionally, the stress of dealing with a natural disaster is causing more and more people to seek out psychological help.
“We at People in Need don't believe in just giving money to households to fix short-term damages, but rather working with families to put together a plan together for long-term renovation. We want to help them think things through so that they can build back even better than before," says Marek Štys, Deputy Director of the Relief and Development Department and Head of Flood Relief.
We are currently disbursing financial assistance geared at covering people's most basic and urgent expenses. Currently, we have given out CZK 50,000 (approximately €2,000) to 3,800 households. By the end of October 2024, we aim to distribute CZK 190 million (about €7 million) and continue helping well into the new year. In addition to meeting people's physical needs, we also support local organisations with psychological counseling. Additionally, we have distributed CZK 16 million (€ 630,000) worth of food and material aid to affected municipalities, including 20,000 litres of Savo disinfectant and two lorries with 55,000 litres of drinking water. We have installed 200 pumps, 500 pressure washers and provided people with thousands of brooms, brushes, wheelbarrows, shovels, pairs of gloves and rainboots. We have also lent 24 excavators. We address approximately 200 inquiries per day on via our flood helpline.
What our financial assistance looks like
We are present in the ares of Jeseník, Krnov and Opava where we continue to work closely with local authorities. All our staff is easily identifiable by our vests which bear the PIN logo. We work with individual families to ascertain the level of damage to their household, as well as the health and mental state of each family member. We coordinate closely with other NGOs to divide areas of operation and provide the most effective help possible.
Our staff have visited over 3,000 households in these regions and assessed damage and organised specific assistance packages depending on the needs of each household. In places where water has flooded parts of residencial property, donation contacts have been signed and eligable families have receive up to CZK 50,000 (approximately €2,000) to cover their basic needs.
In regions where other partner NGOs are present, we've provided one-off donations of CZK 50,000 (approximately €2,000) to 700 different households. We plan to continue to provide various forms of assistance to especially disadvantaged households until spring of 2025 at the earliest.
If you'd like to volunteer yourself and help us with our flood efforts, please join us and apply directly on our site at https://www.peopleinneed.net/career.
Here is where we have helped during the 2024 flooding:
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