Disaster in Europe: Fires out, flood waters recede (photos)

Europe's weather crisis eased on Thursday as fires were put out in Portugal and flood waters receded in central Europe, but the death toll rose in Romania and Austria after heavy rains.

Since June, the flooding in central and eastern Europe has caused 103 deaths, while fires in drought-stricken Portugal, Spain and France killed 37, according to figures compiled by news agency AFP.

Portuguese firefighters said on Thursday they had brought under control all blazes that have ravaged the centre and north of the country over the past two weeks, thanks to the arrival of cooler weather.

Across the country, 850 firefighters backed by 600 soldiers were still monitoring the sites of recent blazes, however, to guard against flare-ups, the civil protection agency said in a statement.

Wildfires have killed 15 people, including 10 firefighters, destroyed more than 100 homes and charred at least 180 000ha of land since the start of the year.

Meanwhile, flood waters receded across central and eastern Europe, but the death toll continued to rise in Romania and Austria.

"Unfortunately, we are expecting the number of victims to rise hour by hour," Romanian Interior Minister Vasile Blaga said at a news conference on Thursday.

"Our priority is the safety of residents. For that reason, we have deployed nearly 10 000 military troops and police to help in rescue operations," Blaga said.

Thirteen people have died in Romania in the past three days and three more are missing, including a four-year-old girl.

The latest victims brought the toll from extreme weather in Romania to 66 since the beginning of this year, Braga said.

Most victims have been elderly people swept away by the currents of raging rivers.

Detailing the extent of the disaster, Blaga said nearly 2 000 people have been evacuated from their homes over the past two weeks and 400 houses have been swept away by flood waters. Damage is estimated at more than €1,5-billion.

In Austria, an 81-year-old man on Thursday became the fourth victim in three days of heavy flooding, as 14 army helicopters were airlifting food and medicine to about 5 000 stranded tourists in Paznauntal, in the western province of Tyrol.

The latest victim was driving his car when he veered into the raging currents of the Litz River in the western province of Vorarlberg.

In Switzerland, authorities continued to evacuate residents from flood-stricken areas on Thursday as rescue workers battled to remove debris that threatened dams and bridges even as the waters subsided.

Six people were dead or missing after four days of flooding in Switzerland's north, centre and east.

In the capital, Bern, authorities continued to evacuate residents by boat and helicopter from a district alongside the Aare River, where lower floors were under water.

Meanwhile, Germany registered its first victim from heavy rains when a 28-year-old man was swept into the water after he and two friends went out in a rubber dinghy on a raging river near the southern Bavarian city of Rosenheim on Wednesday evening, according to the police.

On Thursday, rivers that rose to record levels earlier in the week continued to recede or remained below the hazardous heights that had been expected, authorities said.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder was later on Thursday scheduled to survey the damage in Augsburg, which sits on the Lech river, a tributary of the Danube that also flooded.

The water levels also subsided in Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia, all affected by the flooding in the past week, as well as in Bulgaria, where 26 have died in the heavy rains since June. -- Sapa-AFP

In much of the Alpine region, the waters have now subsided, leaving behind mountains of mud and devastation.

Swiss army soldiers remove driftwood from the Aare river water front in the Matte suburb of the Swiss capital of Bern, Thursday, Aug. 25th, 2005. More residents of the Swiss capital of Bern were expected to be evacuated on Thursday as floods continue to engulf part of the city. More than 300 people have already been moved from the flooded Matte district of the city, a low-lying area next to the river Aare, authorities said. (AP Photo/KEYSTONE/Lukas Lehmann)

The swollen river Danube floods the compound of the monastery of Weltenburg near Kelheim, southern Germany, Thursday, Aug. 25th, 2005. In Germany, the Danube flooded part of the southeastern town of Kelheim, including its Weltenburg Monastery, founded in the 7th century and described as the oldest in Bavaria. The ground floor of the Benedictine monastery, which draws 500,000 visitors a year, was submerged early Thursday, said Father Benedikt, the monastery's prior. (AP Photo/Christof Stache)

Residents put sand bags in front of a bank in a flooded street of Lucerne. Swiss authorities continued to evacuate residents from flood-stricken areas as rescue workers battled to remove debris that threatened dams and bridges even as the waters subsided.(AFP/Bruno Ferrandez)

Bulgarian soldiers rescue an elderly woman from flood waters in Sofia. Defense Minister Vesselin Bliznakov said the Bulgarian army is helping build dykes and re-build houses in flood-hit regions near Sofia and in the east of the country where thousands are still homeless.(AFP/File/Vassil Donev)

A Bulgarian Roma man evacuates his family from their flooded house in the town of Ihtiman, some 60 km east of the capital Sofia, August 5, 2005. Heavy storms and floods this summer have killed 17 people and caused 393 million levs ($248 million) of damage in Bulgaria, the Black Sea country's government said on Thursday. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov

U.S. actor Steven Seagal (R) hands food supplies to an elderly man in the remote village of Milcovul, 190 km (118 miles) north-east of Bucharest, August 6th, 2005. While in Romania to film German director Michael Keusch's movie 'Shadows of the past', Seagal handed over a convoy of goods from an auction to raise funds for the victims of a flood that hit Romania a month ago. REUTERS/Mihai Barbu

An aerial view showing the Mattequartier neighborhood, bottom left, in Bern, Switzerland, being completely surround by flood water, on Tuesday, August 23rd, 2005. Following several days of continuous rainfall the lowest areas of the Swiss capital are flooded while the level of the River Aare keeps rising. (AP Photo/Keystone, Alessandro della Valle)

An aerial view shows the Mattequartier neighborhood in Bern, Switzerland, completely surrounded by flood water, on Tuesday, August 23rd, 2005. (AP Photo/Keystone, Alessandro della Valle)

The flooded banks of the Reuss river in Lucerne. Swiss authorities continued to evacuate residents from flood-stricken areas as rescue workers battled to remove debris that threatened dams and bridges even as the waters subsided.(AFP/Bruno Ferrandez)

An aerial view of the flooded Austrian ski resort of Lech am Arlberg, Austria August 23, 2005. Lakes and rivers burst their banks after days of fierce downpours across Switzerland, Austria and Germany, cutting off roads, power and communications from hundreds of communities. In Austria, the death toll rose to three on Wednesday and a fourth person was missing, feared drowned, police said. In Austria, an emergency cabinet meeting pledged swift aid to homeowners and farmers while flood waters receded after the rain petered out in the hardest hit provinces of Vorarlberg and Tyrol, bordering Switzerland and Bavaria. Picture taken August 23rd, 2005. REUTERS/Miro Kuzmanovic

An aerial view of the destroyed road which cut off the Paznauntal valley in the western part of Austria, Wednesday, August 24th, 2005. Floods and landslides swept the western parts of Austria.(AP Photo/Kerstin Joennson)

Aerial view shows a flooded area in Ulm-Wiblingen on Wednesday, August 24th, 2005. Rescue workers, some using helicopters, evacuated hundreds of people Tuesday from flood-stricken areas of Austria and southern Germany and built sandbag barriers along swollen rivers as heavy rains and landslides battered central and southern Europe. (AP Photo/Luftbildverlag H. Bertram)

The aerial view shows a flooded part of Neu-Ulm, southern Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2005. Rescue workers, some using helicopters, evacuated hundreds of people Tuesday from flood-stricken areas of Austria and southern Germany and built sandbag barriers along swollen rivers as heavy rains and landslides battered central and southern Europe. (AP Photo/Daniel Maurer)

The aerial view shows a flooded part of a motorway in Neu-Ulm, southern Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2005. Rescue workers, some using helicopters, evacuated hundreds of people Tuesday from flood-stricken areas of Austria and southern Germany and built sandbag barriers along swollen rivers as heavy rains and landslides battered central and southern Europe. (AP Photo/Daniel Maurer)

An aerial view shows the collapsed road to Engelberg, central Switzerland, August 23rd, 2005. Three people died and hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes overnight as Switzerland struggled with flooding after days of torrential rainfall in the northern Alps. REUTERS/Andreas Meier

Aerial view shows the flooded centre of the southern Bavarian village of Eschenlohe about 50 km (31 miles) south of Munich August 23, 2005. The village of Eschenlohe was partially evacuated after the river Loisach flooded the southern Bavarian region of Garmisch-Partenkirchen due to heavy rain. REUTERS/Stringer

An aerial view shows the flooded Lachen stadium in Thun, Switzerland, August 23, 2005. Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes overnight as Switzerland struggled with flooding after days of torrential rainfall in the northern Alps. REUTERS/Pascal Lauener

An aerial view shows an ICE train at the flooded train station in Interlaken Ost, Switzerland August 23rd, 2005. Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes overnight as Switzerland struggled with flooding after days of torrential rainfall in the northern Alps. REUTERS/Pascal Lauener

n aerial view shows a house damaged by a landslide near Entlebuch in central Switzerland August 22rd, 2005. Torrential rain for nearly three days unleashed landslides and floods which cut off villages and killed two firefighters. Weather forecasts said the rain in Switzerland was set to continue until late Monday. REUTERS/Andreas Meier

I should have been more on top of this enormous weather related news story much earlier, but with all the other breaking news concerning Gaza, Iran.. etc.

It's really incredible, the horrible fires in northern Portugal have scorched 180,000 hectares (444,600 acres) of land, to the massive broad based flooding throughout central & southeastern Europe.

This article speaks of the Munich area: Bavarian towns cut off, evacuated due to floods (August 23rd, 2005)

A man passes a street hit by floods from the Loisach river in Eschenlohe, southern Germany.

A rescuer fixes cables to the car of a 72-year-old woman stranded in her car in a river near St. Leonhard, Austria. The woman suffered shock but no injuries and her car was saved.

Much of Ulm-Wiblingen lies under water

Soldiers carry sandbags to reinforce a dam near Freising, southern Germany, where floods were expected Wednesday.

Villagers walk on a road damaged when a river burst its banks in Villard-Bonnot, southeastern France.

Firefighters move residents to safety in Cesky Tesin in the Czech Republic.

An empty railway track after a train was derailed by floods in Austria.

Below are some other updates:

Residents evacuated as flooding hits Swiss capital (Scotsman)

Toll of death rising with worst floods for century (The Times)

Floods death toll reaches 42

On top of the fires & floods Paris apartment fire kills 17

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