About 150 people had to be evacuated overnight after a flood protection barrier cracked in Ostrov-Peceneaga, in the southeast.

In Olt county in the south, a dyke between the towns of Dabuleni and Corabia broke Thursday morning and 1,000 people were preparing to be evacuated, said Dorel Predescu, a local civil protection official.

More than 1,400 police officers were helping to evacuate people and reinforcing dykes in several counties bordering the Danube.

In total, 152 municipalities have been hit by the floods, 326 homes have been destroyed and more than 500 kilometres (300 miles) of roads have been damaged.

According to the agriculture ministry, almost 70,000 hectares (170,000 acres) of land have been "flooded in a controlled manner," to protect residential neighbourhoods.

However, water levels on the Danube were down Thursday in Romania, by 36 centimetres (14 inches) compared with Wednesday, according to the National Hydrology Institute.

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