BUCHAREST - Heavy floods at the weekend in Romania killed one man, damaged hundreds of homes across the country and disrupted rail and road traffic, the Environment Ministry said on Sunday.
A 55-year-old man died on Saturday evening in the southern county of Dambovita after being carried away by a swollen river and another had to be rescued by helicopter, a local council spokesman told state agency Rompres.
The ministry said in a statement 742 houses were flooded across the Balkan country after heavy rain on Saturday, up from a previous estimate of around 600. The floods affected 2,515 hectares (6,215 acres) of agricultural land.
The worst hit area was the southeastern county of Buzau where landslides cut off 200 houses. A bridge was destroyed and traffic was interrupted.
The Environment Ministry said around 22 km (14 miles) of roads were affected by the floods across the country.
In the western county of Timis, already hit by the worst floods in 50 years three weeks ago, around 30,000 hectares of land were still covered by water a metre deep. Hungarian authorities sent 20 high power pumps to help drain the water.
Around 3,700 people in Timis were forced to abandon their villages and authorities have started a campaign to vaccinate the population, fearing outbreaks of malaria and hepatitis.
Meteorologists warned that more rain was expected over the next two days.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
