Wait a minute… back in 1997, around the time of the death of Princess Diana, central and eastern Europe were experiencing “The Flood of the Century.” That’s was also the year of Comet Hale-Bopp. Connection?

Torrential rains and flooding ravage Central Europe: the worst in 70 years

Authorities in parts of Europe issued disaster warnings and scrambled to reinforce flood defenses as rivers swelled by days of heavy rain threatened to burst their banks. Several people have died or are missing in the floods in Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland since the rains began on Thursday. The floods have killed at least one person and left several missing across the Czech Republic. Czech officials warned that the waters of the Vltava river could reach critical levels in Prague late on Sunday as soldiers erected metal barriers and piled up sandbags to protect Prague’s historic center from flooding after days of heavy rains swelled rivers and forced evacuations from some low-laying areas. Prague authorities also limited public transport and closed underground stations as water from the Vltava River overflowed into parts of the Old Town.