Final Word from Thursday, August 15, 2002
One of our readers strongly disagreed with our praise of Igor Němec. The Prague mayor, the reader said, declared late Tues. that the worst flooding was over and that only 20cm of additional water was expected in Prague on Wed. Later reports, though, said a 4m crest was expected in the city center. Němec excused himself by saying he's not a water engineer. The anger in the streets against Prague city hall is astounding, the reader said. Director Petr Fejk of Prague's zoo could barely control his anger. The bad predictions about the size of the flood caused the zoo to have to kill several animals (before they drowned) and allowed three sea lions to escape into the Vltava to an uncertain fate (one was retrieved). Lidové noviny said Němec is politically incompetent, but Hospo-dářské noviny compared him to Rudolph Giuliani. Voters will decide in Nov.