Summary of the main findings:
- According to the majority of its inhabitants, the Czech Republic handled the flood crisis well. Practically all questions received overwhelmingly positive responses.
- People believe that the country was better prepared for floods now than in 2002 (77%), when a flood devasted some areas in the west of the country.
- All the forces involved in dealing with the flood situation have done and are doing their job very well, according to 90% of participants. The fire brigades are rated best, with 97% people giving a positive assessment.
- An apparent exception is the government, whose performance is rated positively by 60% of participants. However, in the context of the very low popularity of the government, this figure represents a great result.
- Information awareness of the floods is also very good. They have become the number one issue for most people and at the same time the vast majority of people state that they had enough information about how to behave during floods.
- 54% of people still take an active interest in what is happening regarding the floods.
- At the time of the data collection, i.e. immediately after the floods of 17-19 September 2024, 38% of participants had been involved in some way in helping the affected areas (21% by making a monetary contribution). However, this figure can be expected to increase over time, as for example the main wave of interest among volunteers is expected to occur over the current weekend.
- In terms of the overall assessment and in terms of the assessment of the extent of the Czech state’s response, those who rate the response as timely and appropriate to the situation are slightly more prevalent. A low percentage of people consider it premature or excessive and around 20 percent consider it insufficient and delayed.
- However, about one-fifth of the population said that they could not assess the questions of extent and overall assessment, and therefore it can be expected that the opinion of these people will evolve gradually depending on the evolution of evaluating flood damages and the effectiveness of the state’s assistance.
- The impact on the 2024 regional elections can be expected to be rather minor. Only a low-digit percentage of people declare an improvement in their attitude towards the region hejtman (governor) or their municipality’s mayor, and the vast majority report that their attitude has not been changed by the floods (83%).
- The floods are quite important in terms of electoral motivation, but the most important reason for going to the polls is dissatisfaction with the government, as well as electoral manifestos or proposals for solving the problems of the respective regions.
The full research report with all results and graphs can be found here (in Czech).
