The Danube peaked at record highs in Serbia today without overwhelming flood defences, but authorities warned there was still danger waterlogged dykes could collapse and wreak havoc across southeastern Europe.
Fed by heavy rain and melting snow from central Europe, the river hit its highest level for 111 years over the weekend in Romania and Bulgaria, displacing hundreds of people and threatening to swamp the homes of tens of thousands more.
Serbian authorities said the Danube was still expected to rise near the border with Romania today, although its level had stabilised in many other places.
"The situation is under control along the whole flow of the Danube through Serbia," Goran Kamcev, head of the Serbia flood prevention task force, told Reuters.
"We now have to watch out for the longstanding pressure on the barriers, with water expected to stay high for some 10 to 15 days. It could cause the dykes to leak or even break and our teams on the ground have to stay vigilant."
Much of the Balkans is still reeling from floods last year that drowned scores of people and destroyed houses, farmland and infrastructure worth hundreds of millions of euros.
The Danube peaked on Sunday in Belgrade but some 250 kilometres of anti-flood defences held it at bay. Authorities said ground water could still cause problems and landslides.