At least two people died today and thousands were evacuated from their homes due to flooding which cut transport links and submerged farmland in three central European countries, officials said.
Hungary declared a state of emergency after record water levels burst the banks of its second biggest river, the Tisza, after heavy rainfall and melting snow upstream in Ukraine, while neighbouring Romania was also waterlogged.
The two victims died in the western Transcarpathia part of Ukraine, where some 5,000 people were evacuated from their homes.Damage was reported to some 120 villages, 5,000 homes, 20 bridges and 53 kilometres of roads.
More than 20,000 rescue workers were rushed to the impoverished Ukrainian region, supported by four emergency helicopters and tens of thousands of sandbags donated by Hungary, according to officials in Budapest.
In Hungary, dykes were breached along a 30-metre stretch of the Tisza river, endangering nearly 20 towns and villages.
Some 13,500 emergency workers were currently working on shoring up the dykes, including soldiers and volunteers, he added, adding that reinforcements carried out following 1998 floods had helped somewhat.
"If we had not strengthened the dykes two years ago ... the damage caused by the current record river levels would be catastrophic," said Transport Minister Janos Fonagy, also responsible for water issues.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban rushed to the northeast of the country, to an area along the Tisza, and described the situation as "serious."
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Romania, more than 1,600 people were evacuated from their homes, the environment ministry in Bucharest said. A total of 80 towns and villages were affected by flooding, it said.
AFP