Floods Kill Four in Southern Romania

Heavy rain, causing rivers to overflow, has killed four people, including a child, in the Teleorman county of southern Romania, according to the authorities. Two other people are still missing and hundrends have also been evacuated because their homes flooded.

State of emergency in parts of Serbia due to flooding

A state of emergency was proclaimed in 11 municipalities in Serbia at the weekend due to flooding, the authorities said.

Rescuers evacuated 440 people, and the situation could deteriorate over the next days as more rainfall has been forecast while snow is also melting in the mountains.

The cost of material damage caused by the floods remains unknown but no loss of life has been reported.

Vladan Kocic, director of the Hydrometeorological Institute, warned that the snow on Mt Kopaonik, which is 40 centimetres deep, is expected to melt on Tuesday and additional precipitation is expected between Wednesday and Thursday.

Over 85 villages were affected by the floods, mainly in south where rivers swelled following heavy rainfall and melting of snow in the mountains. Emergency services reinforced riverbanks with sandbags in many places, as more rain is expected in the coming days.

The government on Tuesday said officials are still on the alert and had drawn up contingency plans.

“We already started to send food and drinking water to the region to help people. Police units have already been focused on evacuating the water from households or strengthening dams and are ready to further intervene,” the Interior Minister, Gabriel Oprea, said.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta called a government meeting on Wednesday to discuss the situation.

The torrential rain began last week and...