Evacuations begin as flood death toll rises

SWISS authorities began evacuating parts of the small town of Brienz yesterday, as the death toll from flooding in Europe rose to 43.

Hardest hit was Romania with 31 victims - many of whom died when water rushed into their homes. Austria, Bulgaria, Germany and Switzerland reported a total of 12 dead and large areas remain underwater.

Two of the six Swiss dead were in Brienz, where the body of a missing woman was found near her home by a sniffer dog. She was the mother of the other victim, a teenage girl, police said.

Mud and debris coated streets and houses in Brienz, where the overflowing river and lake were so powerful they flung vehicles into a pile of broken metal.

Vreni Mathyer, who runs a Salvation Army shop in the town, said: “Luckily we are having nice weather, because they say this mountainside is still sliding. We hope that God has worked a miracle and saved part of the shop, even if the furniture has gone.”

“We feel so powerless, so helpless,” said Elisabeth Maeder, who works there.

Yesterday, an old people’s home and two hotels were evacuated. More than 60 residents will have to remain in local shelters until at least Sunday, said Peter Flueck, head of the local authority.

Water levels in Switzerland’s larger mountain lakes are no longer rising and the national weather service forecast little rain yesterday, with just a few small showers expected in the Alps.

Waters were also receding in Austria, where four have died in the flooding.

Heavy rain is predicted in southern Austria in the coming days and authorities are braced for mudslides.

Meanwhile, police in Portugal have arrested 127 people suspected of starting forest fires that have destroyed the country as authorities step up efforts to ensure fires do not restart when temperatures rise.

Eleven fires broke out during the afternoon, after firefighters had tamed several other forest blazes across the country. Fires flared up in the southern, central and northern districts of Faro, Santarem, Coimbra, Vila Real, Leiria, Guarda and Braga.

Altogether 459 firefighters, supported by 119 fire trucks and 11 water tankers, were fighting the blazes.

The fires in northern and central Portugal have destroyed 5% of its forests and killed 14 people.

Newspapers in rural areas have reported hunters might be setting fires because the government cut the hunting season.

Others say most fires are caused by accident, or negligence, such as lit cigarette butts or barbecues.