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CNN Live Today

Interview with Alfredo Azula

Aired August 15, 2002 - 11:21   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It's been described as one of Europe's most bohemian and beautiful capitals, but today, Prague is struggling against the forces of nature. A record-setting flood is making life miserable for thousands of people there.
We have an update coming into to us now from Alfredo Azula. He is the managing editor of "The Prague Post," which is the city's largest English-language paper. He's with us now live on the phone.

Alfredo, can you us give us an assessment right now of how things stand for your city?

ALFREDO AZULA, "PRAGUE POST": Well, right now, the city is starting to recover from the effects of the flood, and the worst is over. And we're starting the clean-up effort, which, of course, has its own hazards.

HARRIS: Which would be?

AZULA: Well, today, for instance, a couple of buildings in the Carlene (ph) neighborhood, which was one of the hardest-hit neighborhoods, collapsed. Rescue crews are going through one of the buildings right now. They're afraid there were people inside.

HARRIS: Do they have any idea of how many people may have been inside? We understood that most of the people had been evacuated.

AZULA: We don't know if the -- it was one of the neighborhoods where a lot of people refused to leave, and one of the neighborhoods where people had to be evacuated by boat. It's a 12-unit complex -- it's in a 12-unit apartment building. The first building we know was empty, but right now, we're not sure about the second one.

HARRIS: Yes, so much has been said about, you know, how beautiful that city is, and we're looking now at some pictures of some of the beautiful old bridges featured there over that river. Can you -- is there any way to estimate how much damage the bridges and perhaps some of the other old and historic structures may have suffered so far?

AZULA: Yes, we don't have a dollar figure yet, an estimate. I mean, the estimates people are talking about is billions of crowns. We definitely know it's going to exceed the 1997 floods, which were the worst floods of 20th century. These are definitely the worst floods the country has experienced in probably 200 years. The final tally, we won't know for weeks. HARRIS: How about in some of the art theatres and the art museums there? Any way to assess how much damage they have suffered so far?

AZULA: Well, that -- we were actually very fortunate with that, because we had a lot of advance warning that the waters were rising. Most of the artworks were moved to higher ground. I have heard no reports of any serious damage to any of the city's treasures in that regard.

HARRIS: Well, as bad as the personal property loss is, it would have been a real tragedy to lose any of those historic and incredibly invaluable artworks that are there in that city.

Let me ask you about the zoo that we have been covering off and on for the last couple days. We have been looking at some of the pictures of some of the animals that had been stuck in the water. And unfortunately, we knew that some of the animals had to be put down, because they were not going make it. We are looking now at some pictures of an elephant that was in water.

Can you give the latest estimate on what's happening with the zoo and the animals there?

AZULA: The zoo is in very bad shape. It actually was one of the worst places to be during the flood, which is unfortunate. Yes, we don't have an estimate as to when it will be reopened. We do know they are going to reopen at some point. Most of the animals had been evacuated away to other zoos. There are some sea lions that are still on the loose in the river.

HARRIS: Yes, I heard they were swimming around. They were in the water and that they were seen jumping around. Is that true?

AZULA: This is true. There were four that escaped in the chaos. They have recaptured one, and there are three that are still at-large out there in the river.

HARRIS: Is there -- can you give us an explanation as to why they weren't evacuated earlier? Why weren't these animals taken up to higher ground when everyone else got the warnings?

AZULA: Well, they were under the mistaken impression that they were not beneath the flood line. They did evacuate a lot of the animals ahead of time, but the elephant was not believed to be threatened, and, yes, just a miscalculation.

HARRIS: Boy, and a tragic one as well. Any reason to believe the city will not recover from this?

AZULA: Oh, no, no. People in Prague are very resilient. They are very tough. It's going to be in a massive, massive cleanup effort in the weeks ahead. But Prague has been around here for 1,000 years, and I think it will be around for a lot longer.

AZULA: That is true, and here's hoping it will be around for a lot longer. Give them our regards, that's for sure.

Alfredo Azula, managing editor of "The Prague Post," thank you very much, and good luck, stay dry. We'll talk to you some other time.

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