BUCHAREST, Romania, April 18 (UPI) -- Thousands of soldiers and civil defense teams strengthened dikes and built new ones across Romania to contain floodwaters from the Danube River.
The Danube, swollen by melting snow and heavy rains, began flooding central Europe some two weeks ago and the devastation has spread to Hungary, Serbia and Romania, the Bucharest Daily News reported Tuesday.
The Danube was flowing at a record 558,000 cubic feet per second, or double the average for this time of year, said Romania's Environment Minister Sulfina Barbu.
Some 4,000 villagers were evacuated from the southern Romanian villages of Rast and Negoi when a dike collapsed. Hundreds of houses were destroyed by floodwaters.
Several border crossings over the Danube separating Romania and Bulgaria were closed due to high waters.
Last year, floods in Romania were responsible for some 74 deaths and $1.8 billion in damage.
