Floods in Romania kill three, hundreds evacuated

BUCHAREST (Reuters) -Severe overnight floods in eastern Romania killed three elderly people and damaged thousands of homes, with hundreds of people evacuated and four helicopters searching for stranded villagers, officials said on Monday.

Some 25 villages across nine counties were affected by heavy rain and high winds, which tore off roofs and uprooted trees, blocking traffic on some national roads, according to the emergency response agency.

It released footage showing wooden houses and cars swept away by the floodwaters, with rescue workers checking vehicles for potential victims.

The worst hit were Neamt and Suceava counties in eastern Romania, where two rivers burst their banks, killing a 66-year-old man and forcing hundreds of people to evacuate. All access roads to the village of Brosteni in Suceava county were blocked.

The emergency response agency later said that two women, an 85- and an 83-year-old, were also victims of the flood. Firefighters had to use an excavator to retrieve one of the bodies from a riverbed.

The Environment Ministry's water management agency said some rivers rose to record high water levels. Repair works on collapsed bridges were underway, it said.

(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; editing by Giles Elgood, Hugh Lawson and Mark Heinrich)