Danube at century high, Balkans man flood defences

The Danube rose to its highest level in more than a century yesterday, but the breaching of a dam in Romania eased pressure on towns and villages struggling to hold back the floods, officials said.

Rivers fed by heavy rain and melting snow crept higher across the Balkans for the fourth straight day, driving people from their homes and swamping low-lying farmland and ports. Waters rose to an 111-year high in the Romanian town of Bazias, near the Serbian border, flooding around 12,355 acres of farmland on the Danube's northern bank.

The river also flooded the small port of Bechet, while soldiers and civil defence workers scrambled to reinforce dykes and build sandbag barriers on both sides of the river.

Romania's government started controlled flooding to divert water, flowing near a record 15,800 cubic metres per second, away from low-lying villages and was helped by the collapse of a dam in southwestern Romania which flooded farmland.

In all, Romania plans to submerge about 90,000 hectares of fertile soil on a 400-km stretch on the Danube's northern bank, a major area for wheat and maize farming.

The Balkans are still recovering from devastating floods last summer, which killed scores of people and caused hundreds of millions of euros in damage to farmland and infrastructure.

This time, floods have submerged hundreds of houses, leaving thousands homeless and leaving tens of thousands more at risk.