European Flood Deaths Rise To 42

Large Swathes Of Central And Southern Europe Remain Underwater

(AP) 
Many homes were in imminent danger of collapse, and electricity, phone service and gas were cut off, city authorities said.

Flash flooding in Romania's hard-hit Harghita county spurred waves as high as 13 feet, authorities there said. Three people were missing in Harghita, including a 4-year-old girl, said Maria Magdalena Sipos, a local government official.

Szillard Stranitsky, who drove through the area late Wednesday, said cars were unable to move because of the rain and mud on the roads.

"I was scared of driving over a corpse, either human or animal, because I couldn't see a thing," he said.

Meanwhile, officials in Austria turned their attention to the cleanup and reconstruction as the rains eased.

"The danger is over," said Doris Ita, the head of Austria's flood emergency department. "But we are still watching the situation."

Victims struggled to clear debris and shovel mud from their homes in the Austrian provinces of Tyrol and Vorarlberg, where many areas remained cut off by flooded roads.

In Germany, the Danube flooded part of the southeastern town of Kelheim, including its Weltenburg Monastery, founded in the seventh century and described as the oldest in Bavaria.