A hundred meters from the river, sixty from the leat, and Tilaka on the forehead.
This is how this year's flood could be summarized in a nutshell through the eyes of Tilak. We experienced the first water in 1997, back in the cattle breeding research institute in Rapotín. Roman Kamler says that if the water had been a few centimetres higher then, there would probably be no Tilak here today. We were very lucky.
1997, Rapotín
In 2000 we moved to Žerotínova Street, where we are still producing today.
2000, reconstruction of today's development department, Žerotínova
For 27 long years, the flood has eluded us, even though we are not far from the Desná River. It flows from the Jeseníky Mountains and can be regulated to a certain extent by the administration of the Dlouhé stráně power plant. Perhaps this is the reason why last week we could hardly admit the possibility of a flood, and it was not until the afternoon of Saturday 14th, that we started cleaning the production area on the ground floor. Due to the size of the workshop, preparation, warehouse and material store, we didn't have a chance to get everything upstairs, so we had to settle for lifting everything some 40 centimetres off the floor.
Workshop after the crisis elevation. There's nowhere to lift the machines.
Sunday morning, September 15, 2024. In the bright yellow building on the left, we make our clothes for You.
On Sunday morning, Tilak's yard quickly began to fill with water flowing down the road from the garden colony, beyond which is the leat and the river. A few hours later the water waist-high on the road and access was only possible with wet feet.
Back entrance
Matouš taped up the main entrance to the warehouse in..in panic.
But the ridiculous solution really played its role in the end.
It stopped just inches from the main entrance anyway. And we kept a close eye on it.
Everything around us was under water, but we had our own island, which was just enough to wait it all through.
And the damage? Minimal. We had a wet facade and floor, we had to slow down production for a few days, and there was so much water leaking under the main switchboard that no one wanted to go near it - you may have seen that on our Facebook page.
Did we get lucky? We like to joke that so much goretex in the building must repel water. We like to believe that Tilaka (the red sign in our logo) really works and we are therefore under its protection.
It is, however, fair to admit that the rescue services and the Dlouhé stráně reservoir administration did an excellent job on Desná, and also, Tilak is built on a little hill. We are therefore very grateful that we can continue to do what we love to do. That is, making great clothes and giving it a hard time in the mountains.
We also thank all of You who have written to us for your support and look forward to seeing you again, preferably on a hill somewhere.
