BUCHAREST, Romania, April 27 (UPI) -- Flood waters from the Danube River have forced authorities to evacuate about 16,000 villagers in southern Romania, a police official said.
By Thursday morning, a total of 15,834 people have been evacuated from 12 counties affected by floods from the Danube and its tributaries, swollen by heavy rains and melting snow, said a statement by the Romanian Ministry of Administration and Interior. Authorities said it has been the worst flooding in a century,
Floods breaking through dikes inundated large portions along the swollen Danube.
More than 57 percent of those people who had to leave their homes were accommodated by authorities in schools, hospitals, in makeshift tent settlements, in floating pontoons, while the temaining evacuees took shelter with relatives or friends, the Rompres news agency reported.
Over the past four weeks, the Danube inundated central and southeastern Europe, spreading floods farther to Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria.
In the Balkan region, Romania apparently has suffered the most damage.
A total of 4,532 homesteads with adjoining houses and 61 farms and agricultural cooperatives and 21,000 hectares of land have been flooded.
More than 300 miles of roads and about 150 bridges were damaged, the ministry statement said.
