The Czech authorities have installed metal fences and protective walls of sandbags, but water has been released from the reservoirs to make room for the influx of new water.
Residents are warned to prepare for a possible evacuation.
Some public events planned for the weekend, including football matches of the highest leagues, have been cancelled.
“We must be prepared for worst-case scenarios,” Prime Minister Petr Fiala said after a meeting of the government’s crisis committee.
“We’re in for a tough weekend,” he warned.
Meteorologists predict that much of the Czech Republic is expected to experience heavy rainfall with a low pressure system moving in from northern Italy.
Some experts compare the weekend forecast to the devastating floods in the region in 1997.
More than 100 people died in floods 27 years ago, 50 of them in the eastern Czech Republic, where large areas were flooded.
Czechs are now being told not to visit parks and forests as strong winds of up to 100 kilometers per hour (28 meters per second) are forecast.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk traveled to the southwestern city of Wroclaw on Friday, where flooding is also predicted.
The authorities call on residents to provide themselves with food and to prepare for power outages, also to charge external batteries.
Tusk, meeting firefighters and other emergency workers, said the forecast was not “unduly alarming”.
“There is no reason to panic, but there is a reason to be fully mobilized,” the prime minister stressed.
The German Meteorological Service has issued warnings of heavy precipitation throughout the country, including in the Alps, where heavy snowfall and strong winds are expected at higher altitudes.
Austria is also bracing for heavy rain and a strong cold front that is expected to bring snow to the higher parts of the country.
2024-09-14 07:02:23