Thousands were evacuated from their homes in widespread flooding in Hungary, while a smaller number of evacuations were reported today in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Croatia, according to dpa. Heavy rains caused flooding for the second time in a fortnight. Although heavy rainfall abated overnight in Hungary, much of that country's north-east remained on high alert, with several rivers expected to rise to record levels, the region's flood defence coordinator Csaba Csont told the state news agency MTI. The Hungarian government has scheduled an emergency committee meeting and was expected to declare an official state of emergency in north-east Borsod County, where surges in the levels of local rivers are expected. Seven hundred Roma were forced to leave their settlements in Slovakia's north-east, while 15 were being evacuated from their homes in southern Slovakia Wednesday, the Czech news agency CTK reported, citing local authorities. In the Czech Republic, dozens of people were evacuated in parts of the country's north-east, CTK reported. The body of a man was found in a flooded part of the south-eastern city of Zlin, but the circumstances of his death were still being determined. In Croatia, hundreds of people were evacuated in eastern parts of the country because of flooding due to rising river levels. Seventeen villages in Hungary's Borsod County were cut off after roads were submerged, and the Hungary-Slovakia border crossing at Satoraljaujhely was closed to traffic. Some 2,000 people had to be evacuated on Tuesday from their homes in Paszto, 70 kilometres north-east of the capital Budapest, as a reservoir threatened to overflow. The latest flooding comes after Hungary's wettest May on record, which saw many homes destroyed and left at least two people dead. Over 700 soldiers from the Hungarian army have been mobilised to help build flood defenses and manage the emergency.
