damage, a part of the estimated $30 million in damage to Czech cultural sites including: the Prague Municipal Library, Malá Strana, the National Theatre and Terezín. The evacuations before the worst of the flooding have been cited as one of the reasons for relatively little loss of life in the capital. An estimated 40,000 people were evacuated from Prague. Among the animal deaths resulting from the flood was Gaston, a sea lion from the Prague Zoo who swam to Germany following the flooding of his aquarium. For some time, it was believed he would survive, but he died following capture in Dresden. In total, 17 people died in the Czech Republic due to the floods, and damage from the flood was estimated at between 70 and 73 billion Czech koruna. The damage to the Prague Metro has been estimated at approximately 7 billion Kč. Germany Germany was the hardest hit, with over two-thirds of the flood's total losses. The 10 years of renovation work that had been carried out since reunification in 1990 in the town of Grimma, in the former East Germany, were said to have been destroyed in one night. Dresden received significant damage when the Elbe River reached an all-time high of 9.4 meters (30.8 feet). More than 30,000 people were evacuated from various neighborhoods throughout the city and some of the city's cultural landmarks were considered to be at risk. Dresden's Zwinger Palace, home to a significant number of Europe's artistic treasures including Raphael's Sistine Madonna, was at risk from the flooding Elbe;, however, all of the art works could be saved. The Semper Opera House also suffered damage. Russia The Black Sea Coast region was among the most severely hit regions of Russia with significant loss of life due to a tornado that hit the tourist region and destroyed homes. This was after earlier summer floods in southern Russia. All told, damage in the region was calculated at more than $400 million. Regions spared Although all of Europe was affected to some degree by the record rainfall, some cities were spared the severe flooding that hit Dresden and Prague. Although the Danube reached record highs, both Bratislava and Vienna were spared significant flooding. Bratislava's flood protection measures withstood the water, while it was generally believed that Vienna was spared significant damage due to the city's engineering, and plans were undertaken to see if such work