Ostrava In 2024
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BUSINESS
Ostrava
In 2024
One of the key goals Jan Dohnal, mayor of the statutory city of Ostrava, set himself upon entering
his current posion was changing how the Moravin-Silesian region is viewed throughout Czechia.
He sees Ostrava as a successful city which can be used as a model example of how structural
changes were properly implemented post-1989 and wants people from other regions to also give
the city a fair chance. What progress has Mr. Dohnal made towards this goal for the past year?
When evaluating the year 2024, something we
cannot forget are the floods that happened in
September, as they caused significant damage to not
only Ostrava, but many other cities as well. How is
dealing with the aftermath of the floods going? How
is the situation today different to the large floods
that took place back in 1997?
The floods definitely made a large impact
on the city’s operation as a whole. The total
damages have been estimated to be around 1.5
billion crowns, some repairs have already been
completed, however, this unfortunate situation is
something that we will feel the consequences of
for a long time. Though the damage was painful
and extensive, what is key for us is that no lives
were lost within the city's jurisdiction. This is
probably the largest difference between the floods
that happened in September and those that took
place in 1997. Another key difference is that
the technologies of rescue services, and anyone
fighting the floods in general, are on a completely
different level. Thanks to this our firefighters, police
officers and EMTs were much better prepared than
in summer 1997. The accuracy of predictions made