At least four die in Romania floods as rain batters central Europe

BUCHAREST/PRAGUE (Reuters) - At least four people died in eastern Romania after torrential rain caused flooding, the country's emergency response unit said on Saturday, as river levels surged in several other central and eastern European nations following days of heavy rainfall.

More rain is forecast in much of the region over the coming days, putting authorities on alert in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and southern Germany and parts of Austria.

Officials in some towns along the Czech-Polish border carried out evacuations as rivers rose past alert levels while the Czech capital, Prague, which suffered catastrophic floods in 2002, has put up flood barriers.

In Romania, floods affected 19 villages in eight counties, the emergency unit said, and Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu was on his way to visit hard-hit Galati county, where the four people were found dead.

Television images from the area showed streets flooded with muddy water, silt and debris as rescuers led residents to safety.

The Environment Ministry's water management agency said rainfall of more than 150 litres per square metre had fallen in the area in less than 24 hours.

In Glucholazy, a historic town in southwestern Poland, firefighters piled up hundreds of sandbags alongside a swollen river and some residents were evacuated from their homes.

(Reporting by Luiza Ilie in Bucharest, Jason Hovet in Prague, Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw and Krisztina Than in Budapest; Editing by Helen Popper)