Romania: Worst is not over yet
More evacuations dash hopes that the Danube is retreating
Tuesday, April 25, 2006; Posted: 3:25 a.m. EDT (07:25 GMT)
Manage Alerts | What Is This? BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) -- Two dikes broke along the swollen Danube early Monday, allowing the river to reach its highest-recorded level and threatening hundreds of homes in eastern Romania, officials said.
Some 10,000 people were to be evacuated later in the day from their homes in the villages of Bistret and Sarata, emergency situations authorities in the western county of Dolj said.
Residents, with their possessions piled into cars and horse-drawn vehicles, were seen leaving the villages in footage broadcast on Realitatea TV.
People "must leave their homes immediately," said President Traian Basescu, who arrived Monday in Bistret. "We must be prepared for a difficult situation in the next two weeks."
In the eastern port of Galati, the river had swollen to a record depth of 6.57 meters (21.7 feet) -- one centimeter (1/2 inch) more than the level recorded in 1897, county emergency situations chief Viorel Zaharia said.
Floodwaters inundated industrial areas, including the port, customs offices, and a shipyard.
In Oltina village, three dikes began to crack, threatening to release flood waters on dozens of homes, said Danut Culetu, top government official for the county of Constanta. Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu traveled to the stricken area later Monday.
The Danube has been flowing at about twice its regular volume for a week, and more than 5,500 people were evacuated from their homes to schools, military barracks and hospitals, the Interior Ministry said Saturday.
Floods have damaged more than 3,500 homes and farms in 147 communities along the river.
Soldiers and civilians have been working in recent days to repair leaking dikes in Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary
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