Floods keep almost 14,000 Romanians away from their homes

TERRA.WIRE

Floods keep almost 14,000 Romanians away from their homes
BUCHAREST, May 4 (AFP) May 04, 2006
Almost 14,000 Romanians were still evacuated from their homes Thursday because of flooding that began in early April, and health officials were checking for epidemics, the interior ministry said.

The ministry also said that 3,000 homes had been flooded and 891 more totally destroyed since the Danube River overflowed in southern Romania.

Thirteen towns in the south were still without electicity.

Health Minister Eugen Nicolaescu called on people to be careful about hygiene in order to avoid epidemics.

"In the (refugee) camp in Rast, we set up showers. However we can not force people to wash themselves," the minister said.

The eastern European nation's hydrology institute said floodwaters were lower Thursday, flowing at 12,000 cubic metres (444,000 cubic feet) a second.

Two weeks ago, the Danube reached its highest level in a century, flowing at 15,900 cubic metres a second.

About 16,000 people in Romania have been affected by the floods that hit eastern Europe for the past month, but according to the interior ministry 2,000 have now returned to their homes.