L’Europa centrale e orientale si prepara alle peggiori inondazioni degli ultimi decenni

Much of central and eastern Europe is on high alert as torrential rain falls across large parts of the region for a third day, threatening the worst flooding in decades.

Four deaths were reported in Romania during flash floods, with additional people not accounted for. More than 200 firefighters were on hand to help with evacuations.

Some 5,000 households have been affected by flooding across seven counties, with 160 people evacuated and about 100 rescued, said Romanian Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu is headed to the hardest hit areas and is expected to give an update on conditions.

In some villages, residents climbed onto rooftops to avoid rising waters.

Heavy rain is falling in Austria and southern Germany, with snowfall at higher elevations in the Alps and unusually low temperatures — just a week after the region was sweltering with a much hotter than normal early September.

St Pölten, the capital of Lower Austria province, is forecast to get 30 centimeters (12 inches) of rain from the weather system, more than four times its monthly average for September. The town of Neunkirchen, south of the capital Vienna, will see an estimated 40cms.