A FURTHER 4,000 PEOPLE WERE ORDERED LATE SUNDAY TO EVACUATE HOMES IN THE SOUTHERN CZECH REPUBLIC, JOINING THOUSANDS WHO'VE FLED SINCE MORE THAN 20 RIVERS AROUND THE COUNTRY STARTED FLOODING LAST WEEK, DPA REPORTED. THE SPRING FLOODS, FED BY A RAPID SNOW MELT IN THE MOUNTAINS, HAVE KILLED AT LEAST FIVE PEOPLE AND CAUSED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN PROPERTY DAMAGE. THE RISING PRICE TAG PROMPTED MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE MILAN URBAN TO PROPOSE SUNDAY THAT THE GOVERNMENT PAY FOR FLOOD REPAIRS WITH 2 BILLION KORUNA (87 MILLION DOLLARS) FROM THE 2005 EARNINGS OF THE STATE'S POWER COMPANY CEZ. THE LATEST EVACUATION WAS ORDERED BY SOUTH MORAVIA GOVERNOR STANISLAV JURANIK AND INCLUDED FOUR TOWNS THREATENED AFTER A DYKE BROKE AT THE CONFLUENCE OF THE DYJE AND JEVISOVKA RIVERS. THE AREA IS ABOUT 200 KILOMETRES SOUTHEAST OF PRAGUE NEAR THE CZECH-AUSTRIAN BORDER. SOME OF THE MOST SERIOUS FLOODS HAVE AFFECTED TOWNS AND FARMS ALONG THE DYJE, INCLUDING THE CITY OF ZNOJMO WHERE ABOUT 2,300 WERE EVACUATED LAST WEEK. ALSO SUNDAY, HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE FLED THE FLOODING MORAVA RIVER IN AND AROUND OLOMOUC, THE COUNTRY'S FOURTH-LARGEST CITY. CZECH RADIO SAID ABOUT 2,000 HAD EVACUATED IN RECENT DAYS ALONG THE RISING LABE RIVER IN THE COUNTRY'S NORTH, AND CZECH TV SAID ABOUT 1,000 WERE OUT OF THEIR HOMES IN THE SOUTHERN TOWN OF VESILI NAD LUZNICI.
