Deadly tornado takes the Czech Republic by storm - A rare occurrence with detrimental consequences
News analysis by Maria Wehbe, Featured Writer
July 9th, 2021
On Thursday, June 24th, 2021, a rare and deadly tornado took the Czech Republic by storm, sweeping through many villages and completely destroying them, and killing at least 6 people while leaving more than 150 others injured. Winds of at least 219 km/h, which is equivalent to 136 mph, were recorded, as this tornado is said to be the strongest to strike Central Europe in Modern History. South Moravia regional governor Jan Grolich described the situation as a ‘living hell’, after visiting the damaged area. Prime Minister Andrej Babis, who was in Brussels for an EU summit at the time, described what happened as an apocalypse. He was not able to come back to the Czech Republic right away as it would have been too dangerous. “The church is without the tower, the elementary school has no roof and insulation anymore, only walls remained from what were houses,” he said to the Czech public radio. Until now, it is uncertain whether it was a single twister or several independent ones; regardless, some of the damage done is beyond repair.
Hailstones the size of tennis balls hit the country’s south-eastern region. Video footage from that specific area portrays the extent of damage that it suffered and is still suffering from today - buildings razed to the ground, tipped-over cars and buses, cars flying in the air, trimmed tree stumps, many fire outbreaks resulting in thick black smoke spreading all across the region, and even torn-off roofs. Some said that the most damaged areas truly looked like war zones. The worst-affected area is the village of Luzice: around 100 to 120 of its houses were either destroyed or damaged, according to Luzice mayor Tomas Klasek. Moreover, the tornado cut off power to tens of thousands of households, accounting to about seventy-five thousand individuals, as the fallen power lines led to the closure of a major motorway connecting Prague with the Slovak capital, Bratislava. As a result of the accumulation of problems, Czech Interior Minister Jan Hamacek declared the situation a state of emergency.
The government immediately commissioned aid in order to help the regions affected by this natural disaster. Neighboring countries Austria and Slovakia have sent over crews to join the rescue efforts and the Czech Army was deployed in the region. About 100 firefighters (including the crews from Austria and Slovakia) were assisting during the recovery efforts alongside rescue teams and urban search, according to Jan Hamacek. In addition, the Czech Army sent an engineering unit to the affected region and other units are heading there to help as well according to the Ministry of Defense. They were using rescue dogs and special equipment in the hope of finding survivors under the rubble. Currently, a structural engineer and energy workers are checking the worst-hit part of Hrusky, a village that has been badly damaged, in order to determine which houses are going to be demolished and which ones can be spared. This really was and still is a big operation that is going to take a lot of time to recover from. Additionally, several charities are trying to collect donations in order to help those affected by this disaster.
What comes as a shock is that tornadoes are extremely rare and unusual in this region. You would expect them to happen in the United States, but not as often in Europe, let alone in Central Europe. In fact, over the last two decades, there were only a couple of dozen tornadoes of this force that occurred in Europe and the last one to occur in the Czech Republic prior to this one was in 2004.
Insurance companies in the Czech Republic estimate that the damage caused by the tornado stands at CZK 3.6 billion, keeping in mind that CZK 1 is equivalent to $ 0.0464. Around CZK 50 million have already been covered and paid, with half of the money taking the form of advance payments. Damage to property is set to be around CZK 1.2 billion, while damage to crops and livestock is set to be around CZK 140 million. With that being said, the businesses that have been affected by the disaster have the right to apply for special government aid and the Ministry of Industry and Trade has begun accepting claims for compensation from people whose businesses have been affected under a special Tornado Assistance programme. Around CZK 200 million are set aside for these people and they can keep applying for compensation until the end of September of 2021.
As of July 2nd, 2021, Defence Minister Lubomir Metnar wrote on Twitter that the army is ready to send 1,000 soldiers to help in the villages that were gravely affected in South Moravia – indeed, the government permitted the army’s greater involvement in the rescue efforts and clean-up work. On a brighter note, leaders of the South Moravia region urged people to stop sending material aid to affected communities as the regional governor Jan Grolich reassured them that the municipalities now had sufficient food, water, clothing and other items. They only required building materials, of which there was and still is a shortage given the extent of damage that the buildings underwent all over the region.
Nonetheless, even after having suffered from such destruction and devastation, the country immediately stood back up on its feet and rescue efforts commenced and search teams were sent out. The government immediately commissioned for international aid and neighboring countries sent over crews right away: although the country has suffered from damages that are beyond repair, little by little, it’s picking itself back up, with the help of those around them and by helping one another. The Czech government dealt with the situation really well, and other countries could learn a thing or two when it comes to dealing with states of emergency.