One person was killed in Galati county and another in Vrancea county, where police were still looking for a woman who went missing Wednesday evening, David added.

The town of Tecuci was the worst hit by the flooding. The Realitatea TV station showed residents seeking refuge on their roofs as the town was submerged by water.

Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu cancelled a trip to Sibiu, in the centre of the country, where he was to attend the third European Ecumenical Assembly alongside European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, to travel to Tecuci instead.

In Galati county, some 300 people had to spend the night in two trains that became trapped by the rising waters, before they could be freed early Thursday.

Trains between Bucharest and Iasi in the northeast of the country were being redirected, after two bridges were damaged by the floods.

In eastern Bacau county, several hundred houses were also inundated.

Romanian authorities had earlier put the country on yellow alert, the lowest level, until Friday evening because of the heavy rains.