In less than 48 hours, the Vltava swelled to 4 times its normal size, breaking the riverbanks and flooding massive regions of the Czech Republic capital. The city was placed in a state of emergency, and over 50,000 people were evacuated from the center. Huge areas of the city's powergrid were shut down, leaving even those not directly threatened without power for days. Historic sites such as the National Theater and Rudolfinum came close to devastation as the floods grew worse.
