Massive Flooding Sweeps Europe

Torrential rains in Europe inundated Austrian villages Thursday, swept away campers on Russia’s Black Sea coast, flooded London’s subway system and battered vineyards and olive groves in northern Italy. At least five people were killed in some of the continent’s worst flooding in decades.

On the shores of the Black Sea, two bodies of flood victims were found in the Russian village of Abrau-Dyurso, said Viktor Beltsov, a spokesman for Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry. At least 100 people were missing, but there were no details on their situation.

Rising waters submerged camps and resorts near the port of Novorossiysk, sweeping away seaside campers, Beltsov said. He did not know how many people were missing, but he said 10 were picked out of the water alive.

Seven villages in the area were flooded, forcing evacuation of at least 440 people, said Oleg Grekov, spokesman for the Southern Federal District’s Emergency Situations Ministry.

In southwestern Romania, a 62-year-old man and an 8-year-old boy died as flood waters swept through villages.

About 2,000 people were evacuated from flooded homes in southern Bohemia in the Czech Republic, where a 21-year-old student was killed when a falling tree crushed a cottage in Pisek, 55 miles south of Prague, Czech radio reported.

Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla went to Ceske Budejovice, 75 miles south of the capital, where part of the town was underwater.

In Austria, 350 soldiers, thousands of firefighters and scores of Red Cross volunteers were helping evacuate people from areas threatened by floodwaters in Upper Austria and the Waldviertel area of Lower Austria.

In London, heavy rain caused extensive flooding of the city’s subway and train system, closing several stations and cutting services before the morning rush hour.

The city suffered the worst of storms that swept England overnight, and rail operators warned commuters to expect long delays throughout the day.

In northern Italy, hail and heavy rain battered much of the region, damaging vineyards, tobacco crops and olive groves.

In Lower Austria, the river Kamp rose to its highest level since records were first kept in 1896, said Franz Hauer of the province’s Hydrographic Service. Helicopters lowered rescuers on ropes to save residents from rooftops in the Kamp Valley village of Zoebing.

There were no immediate reports of injuries in Austria, where the damage was expected to total hundreds of millions of dollars.