Thousands flee Ukrainian flood

KIEV, Ukraine -- More than 7,000 people have fled their homes in western Ukraine to escape rising floodwaters, the Emergency Ministry said.

The river Tisza burst its banks in several locations due to heavy rains and melting snow, releasing millions of gallons of floodwater into the valleys of the Carpathian Mountains.

The flooding is likely to worsen over the next couple of days as warmer weather continues, authorities said.

At least 10 homes have been destroyed. "We have no gas, no drinking water and no one has come to help us," villager Marta Chedrych said.

The mountainous region saw its worst flooding in 1998 when 10 people died and more than 24,000 were left homeless.

In neighbouring Hungary, hundreds of people have also been evacuated from the village of Kispalad -- near the Ukraine border -- after floodwaters there broke a dyke.

Laszlo Helmeczy, head of the Szabolcs-Szatmar county defence committee, said no one was injured but the floods had threatened several villages in the region of the upper Tisza.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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