The death toll from floods which have wreaked havoc in three central European countries rose to seven Thursday, while tens of thousands have been left homeless by the rising waters.
In Hungary, some 30,000 Hungarians have so far been evacuated from their homes amid unprecedented floods after the country's second biggest river the Tisza burst through dykes, sending water surging into farmland and villages.
The floods were most deadly in Ukraine, where seven people were killed and nearly 13,000 evacuated in the western Transcarphathian region of the country, officials there said.
President Leonid Kuchma's office said he would visit the disaster zone Friday to talk to some of the 22,000 rescue workers deployed amid devastation, which has included the destruction of 200,000 homes and 20 bridges.
In Romania the situation had eased by Thursday, according to the environment ministry, which said that a total of over 3,700 people had been evacuated, 2,500 homes damaged and over 11,000 hectares of farmland waterlogged.
Hungarian authorites, who declared a state of emergency this week, said some 130 square kilometres of farmland were underwater after the Tisza river burst its banks due to heavy rainfall and melting snow upstream in Ukraine.
The Tisza broke its dykes in two places Tuesday for the first time in 20 years and water levels far surpassed the floods in 1998 which at the time broke all records.
"One thousand cubic metres of water hit villages every second in the area where the dykes broke," said Ferenc Szamos of the northern water management authority.
Some villagers, particularly the elderly, remain reluctant to leave, officials said.
"They will only leave their houses and animals at the last moment. They simply do not believe that the water could come this high," said Gergely Fueloep of the northern Szabolcs county police.
Authorities gave police the powers to evacuate villagers by force where necessary but "so far there has been no need for that," Fueloep said.
The cost of the rescue and clean-up efforts could rise to 150 million forints (566,000 euros, 523,000 dollars), said Bela Hajos of a government-initiated coordination committee.
As floodwaters spread, engineers cut holes in a key road in the region to channel water away. Emergency workers then built pontoon bridges over the gaps to be able to rescue hundreds of people stuck in villages there.
Army helicopters continued to airlift people clinging to roofs and treetops as others were saved by motorboats. At least 20 houses collapsed, Hajos added.
The large MOL oil and gas company delivered free fuel for army vehicles and helicopters to the river in tanker trucks to help rescue efforts.
The state railways offered discount tickets for rescue workers and delayed payment for those made homeless by the floods. Several railway lines, ferries and roads were disrupted, transport authorities said.
Some 25,000 people including 3,500 soldiers, police and border guards were helping in efforts to strengthen dykes Thursday.
Orban said the disaster could have been worse, but for an emergency signalling system installed on the Tisza river in the wake of the 1998 floods.
"The trouble could have been worse had it not been for that system," he said – BUDAPEST (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
