Fri, Aug 26, 2005 page1

• Flooding menaces swathe of Europe

  • AGENCIES
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  Helicopters ferried food to an Alpine resort yesterday and plucked people from roofs in the capital Berne as flood-ravaged Switzerland braced for more rain.

  In Romania, one of the countries worst hit by the downpours that lashed parts of central Europe earlier this week, the death toll from flooding rose by six to 31 yesterday, with another three people missing, including a four-year-old girl.

  The torrential rains forced lakes and rivers to burst their banks from Berne to Bucharest, cutting roads, power and communications to hundreds of communities and causing damage estimated at worth well over US$1 billion in Switzerland alone.

  

  The old district of the city of Passau in southern Germany is pictured yesterday. Bavaria has been experiencing unusual amounts of rain in past weeks, raising the danger from flooding streams and rivers.

  PHOTO: AP

  In Berne, helicopters lifted residents from roofs and balconies of their homes in the oldest part of town where they were trapped by the waters. Officials fear centuries-old buildings could be swept away.

  In Lucerne, sandbags protected shops and homes and residents watched anxiously as the river Reuss rushed perilously close beneath the city's covered 14th-century wooden bridge -- a national landmark.

  Forecasters said the weather could get worse, with a further 20mm to 30mm of rain expected later in the week over Switzerland.

  Driftwood has been swept into lakes and rivers and now threatens to smash bridges and other installations, rescue officials said.

  The Swiss army was using Puma helicopters to supply the scenic mountain resort of Engelberg, which has been cut off since Monday by rain which also sent part of the railway line plunging down a ravine.

  One of 700 tourists evacuated by air on Wednesday from the village said they had been without hot food, clean water and electricity.

  The Swiss authorities have warned sightseers to stay away from the floodwaters, worried about a sudden rise in river levels or more flash floods.

  In southern Germany, a 28-year-old man drowned when he ventured out with two friends in a dinghy which capsized on the River Mangfall near the town of Feldkirchen-Westerham.

  He was the first person to die in Germany in the floods, which have turned regions of Bavaria into disaster zones. The other two men were rescued.

  The cities of Passau and Ingolstadt were expected to escape the devastation initially predicted when torrential rains produced heavy damage in the Alpine region to the south on Monday and Tuesday.

  Dry weather was forecast through much of the region, providing relief for panicked residents who had piled sandbags in front of homes and businesses in recent days to shield them from the raging waters.

  Bavarian authorities said the crisis had eased in several areas but the situation remained critical along sections of the River Danube.

  In Romania, the latest deaths were from the Transylvanian region of Harghita. Floods across the country have killed 67 so far this year.

  Austrian crews were using heavy equipment to clear away tonnes of mud, gravel and rocks dumped inside hundreds of homes, hotels and businesses in mountain valleys in Vorarlberg and neighboring Tyrol Province.
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