(Reuters) – Severe overnight floods in eastern Romania killed two people and damaged thousands of homes, with hundreds of people evacuated and helicopters searching for stranded villagers, officials said on Monday.
Some 25 villages across nine counties were affected by heavy rain and high winds, which tore off roofs and uprooted trees, blocking traffic on some national roads, the emergency response agency said.
The worst hit were Neamt and Suceava counties in eastern Romania, where two rivers burst their banks, killing a 66-year-old man and forcing hundreds of people to evacuate. All access roads to the village of Brosteni in Suceava county were blocked.
The emergency response agency later said that there was a second victim of the floods, an 85-year-old woman, and that firefighters used an excavator to retrieve her body from the river bed.
The Environment Ministry’s water management agency said some rivers saw record high water levels. Repair works on collapsed bridges were underway, it said.
