Monday November 19, 2007
Floods in southeast Europe leave villages, farms under water
ATHENS, Greece (AP): Severe flooding in southeastern Europe has left villages and farms under water and several municipalities in a declared state of emergency. At least two people have died in Greece.
Heavy rain in southern Bulgaria left many villages without electricity or fresh water.
The country's worst-hit area was the district of Stara Zagora, where rescue teams had to evacuate people from submerged houses. Dozens of homes remained underwater Monday while many area roads remained impassible.
Work was halted in three coal mines in the nearby town of Radnevo as miners pumped water out of the flooded mines.
Two people died after falling into rain-driven torrents. One man died in northern Greece after his car fell into a flooded ditch, while over the weekend an Indian immigrant drowned near Athens.
In northeastern Greece, the Rodopi prefecture remained in a state of emergency after hundreds of homes and farms were flooded by rising waters over the weekend.
Officials feared more flooding from overflowing dams in Bulgaria, whose country's Civil Defense Agency was monitoring dam water levels closely. Raging torrents also washed out roads and bridges and cut electricity to some villages.
Mudslides kept cleanup crews busy in parts of the Peloponnese, in southern Greece, which were hit by massive forest fires over the summer, while rising waters in the Alphios River threatened area villages.
Scores of livestock were also killed.
Some harbors in southeastern Aegean islands also suffered limited damage from high winds. Meteorologists, however, said conditions would improve from Monday.
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