"The floods are actually quite a good opportunity for [Prime Minister Jiří] Paroubek," says Bohumil Doležal, a political analyst. "The whole situation doesn't look as scary as in 2002. It's staying at the local level, so Paroubek can easily blame the district officers."

And he's doing just that. The ťSSD leader is attacking regional leaders for not responding quicker to the escalating situation. Regional leaders belonging to the senior opposition Civic Democrats (ODS) in turn are criticizing the government for failing to provide sufficient anti-flood measures in the four years following 2002's massive floods.

When the Elbe River began to flood parts of Ústí nad Labem, forcing 424 people to evacuate, Paroubek used the opportunity to take a swipe at Petr Gandalovič, Ústí's mayor and ODS candidate for the region.

"When it comes to anti-flood measures, I would say that Ústí nad Labem overslept," said Paroubek at a special press conference held March 30 to address the floods.

Paroubek will be running against Gandalovič as the ťSSD's Ústí regional candidate in the upcoming elections.

Gandalovič said Paroubek's comments were an insult to all the emergency workers trying to contain the situation in Ústí.

"I consider Premier Paroubek's statement to be political hyenism," Gandalovič said. "This amounts to using the stress and misfortune of other people to make a political attack on me as a mayor and as an opponent during the 2006 elections."

Gandalovič said anti-flood measures are first and foremost the responsibility of the government and not of the regions. The government runs river basin companies, he said, and therefore holds a responsibility to monitor and regulate the flow of the rivers and to invest in necessary anti-flood protection.

The first part of the country to experience severe flooding was Znojmo, where the Dyje River overflowed. People in low-lying regions were evacuated when a dam burst. The government reacted by sacking the head of the Morava Basin, Miroslav Konečný, saying he handled the situation poorly.

But Václav Mencl, ODS leader in the South Moravian region said March 31 that the government was to blame. He said the Social Democrats failed to invest enough money into anti-flood measures in the region.

"The residents of Southern Moravia expected that the ťSSD would fulfil its promise to protect them from floods after 2002," he said in a press statement. "The situation today shows this isn't the case."

At times it has also seemed as though political leaders are trying to outdo each other in who can be seen doing the most to help flood victims.

Vlastimil Tlustý, ODS member and shadow finance minister, is touting his plunge into a swelling river to save a drowning dog, Mladá fronta Dnes reported recently.

Cynics have pointed out that the day Tlustý plunged in happened to coincide with the day that the ODS planned to kick off its election campaign. That same weekend Tlustý was seen bringing food and water to people building an anti-flood dam in Mďlník.

President Václav Klaus is criticizing politicians for trying to use the floods to help their political campaigns. "It's absolutely shameful," he told journalists April 3.

Doležal, the analyst, says the politicians' attempts to milk the floods could turn against them.

"In my opinion, it's not a dignified tactic," he said. It seems that many people, particularly those in the flooded regions, agree.