Europe battles extreme weather on two fronts

Europe is battling extreme weather on two fronts, with at least five people reported killed by storms in Austria and Switzerland, while 16 have been killed this year in scores of fires raging in Portugal.

Hundreds of towns and villages were cut off from the outside world yesterday as fierce flooding and torrential rain continued to sweep through Austria, Switzerland and southern Germany.

In Switzerland two firemen were killed in a mudslide and hundreds of inhabitants in the canton of Lucerne were evacuated from their homes after rivers burst their banks.

The floods halted rail services through the Alps towards Italy and forced the closure of major roads.

In Austria, the army was called in yesterday to fortify flood defences. Two people were killed by rain-induced avalanches and several people in an apartment block in the town of Reuthe were injured after flooding caused a gas explosion.

One person died in a rockslide in the Tyrol. In Innsbruck, homes in the town centre were evacuated as the authorities waited for the river Inn to burst its banks.

In southern Germany, police said that the resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen was completely cut off by flooding that had forced closure of the main Munich to Stuttgart autobahn.

Rescue teams equipped with helicopters evacuated people from their homes. Shipping on the River Rhine was also halted after water levels rose.

Officials said yesterday that the flooding was expected to worsen as flood water swept towards the river Danube over the coming days.

Fires continued to rage across a parched Portugal, with weather forecasters warning of "maximum risk" of fire throughout the country.

Police arrested four young people, two of them just 14, suspected of arson, and recovered the lighter used for starting the fires. One of the detainees, an unemployed man, was a former firefighter.

The worst blazes destroyed houses outside the central town of Coimbra, home of Portugal's ancient university, where more than 300 firefighters battled to douse the flames.

France, Italy, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands have sent helicopters or planes to help douse the flames following a dramatic weekend appeal from Portugal's President Jorge Sampaio for assistance from the European Union to help "to fight this terrible tragedy."

The fire moved into Coimbra suburbs after consuming nearby woodland, destroying houses and forcing scores of people to flee their homes. Hundreds of armed forces are mobilised to help some 2300 firefighters operating nationwide. EU countries have sent 14 water-dumping planes.

The unprecedented drought that has afflicted most of Portugal for months, and unusually high summer temperatures, are set to continue, keeping many districts at "very high risk", forcasters say.

President Sampaio has announced a national disaster, and asked employers to release volunteer firefighters from their jobs during the emergency.

Authorities said 16 people had died, including 11 firefighters, in the worst year for fires for decades. The forest service estimated last week that about 134,500ha had burned this year, well above the full-year average since 1980.

One civilian was killed on Monday when he was struck by a fire truck while helping tackle a blaze.

Firefighters also found the burnt body of an elderly woman but it was unclear if the flames had killed her, Lusa said.

In Spain, fires sweeping the northwesterly region of Galicia were being brought under control yesterday, but more than a dozen still raged over tinder-dry forests and scrubland.

The regional government said it had doubled firefighting efforts in recent days "because of the high numbers of fires started deliberately."

Planes carrying tubs of water criss-crossed clear and cloudless skies, in a region renowned for rain and mists. But here, as throughout Spain, the drought has been long and severe.

- THE INDEPENDENT