EUROPE: Rescue workers airlifted residents from a half-submerged riverside district of the Swiss capital of Bern yesterday as large swathes of central and southern Europe remained underwater and the death toll from flooding rose to 42.
In Portugal, forest fires that have ravaged the centre of the country and killed at least 14 people revived yesterday, flaring up as temperatures rose during the day, the national fire service said.
Hardest hit by the flooding was Romania with 31 victims - many of whom drowned as torrents of water rushed into their homes. Austria, Bulgaria, Germany and Switzerland reported a total of 11 dead, but numbers were expected to climb as more bodies are recovered.
Across the Alps, military helicopters ferried in supplies to valleys cut off by flooding and evacuated stranded tourists and even cows isolated in mountain pastures by the rising waters.
The river Aare broke through the windows of a children's clothes shop in Bern, leaving prams and toys floating in muddy water in the deserted streets of the city's Matte district, while bicycle parts were plastered across the front of a house, 1.5 metres above the ground.
"It really hits home when you something like this," said fire-service chief Franz Bachmann, who led the evacuation operation. "Lots of people have lost their whole existence." All 1,100 residents of the low-lying area have been evacuated, police spokesman Franz Maerki said.
Police kept guard to prevent people from returning, warning that deadly gushes of water could surge down from the mountains as blockages of debris and mud give way.
Many homes were in imminent danger of collapse, and electricity, telephone service and gas were cut off, city authorities said.
Flash flooding in Romania's hard-hit Harghita county spurred waves as high as four metres (13ft), authorities there said. Three people were missing in Harghita, including a four-year-old girl.
Szillard Stranitsky, who drove through the area last night, said cars were unable to move because of the rain and mud on the roads. "I was scared of driving over a corpse, either human or animal, because I couldn't see a thing,"
Meanwhile, officials in Austria turned their attention to the clean up and reconstruction as the rains eased.
"The danger is over," said Doris Ita, head of Austria's flood emergency department. "But we are still watching the situation."
In Germany, the Danube flooded part of the south-eastern town of Kelheim, including its Weltenburg Monastery, founded in the seventh century and described as the oldest in Bavaria.
A 28-year-old man became the first victim of the floods in Germany last night, drowning near the south-eastern town of Rosenheim when his dinghy capsized. In Switzerland, much of the old city of Lucerne remained underwater. In southern Poland, at least seven bridges collapsed.
Meanwhile in central Portugal, forest fires that have ravaged the area and killed at least 14 people revived yesterday, flaring up as temperatures rose during the day, the national fire service said. In the afternoon, seven small fires were out of control, the biggest near Santarem, about 60 km (35 miles) northeast of Lisbon, the service added.
Cooler weather and clouds had helped firefighters snuff out fires that have devastated forests in central Portugal and yesterday morning, for the first time in many days, the fire service reported no blazes.
The respite brought relief to 4,200 volunteer firefighters who "have been stretched to the limits of their resistance", interior minister Antonio Costa said late on Wednesday.
Portugal is enduring its worst drought on record. The National Forest Fire Authority estimates that more than 180,000 hectares (450,000 acres) of woodland have burned so far this year, already the second-highest annual figure since 1980.