The first instances of looting have been reported in areas affected by flooding in the Czech Republic, Interior Minister Vit Rakušan said on Wednesday after a crisis meeting in Prague. He said that the law prescribes harsher penalties for such acts during disaster situations and warned that burglary carries penalties of up to 15 years in prison without parole. Meanwhile, a further rise in water levels is expected today along the Elbe river near the border with the German state of Saxony. In the Czech city of Ústí nad Labem, flood barriers and sandbags have been deployed to protect the area fro…