BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro — Floods threatened cities and farmland across Serbia, and record water levels on one of Europe's longest rivers surged downstream toward neighboring Romania and Bulgaria on Monday.
In Serbia, emergency crews and volunteers struggled to keep embankments and sand barriers from giving way as the Danube River's water levels started receding. Meanwhile, the Tisa River, which flows from Hungary in the north, started rising dramatically.
Thousands of civil protection workers and soldiers in Romania and Bulgaria were bolstering dikes and building new ones. The peak of the Danube floodwaters was expected to reach the two Balkan countries in the next few days.
Spring melting of snow together with heavy rains has led to floods throughout southeastern Europe in the past few weeks.
More than 3,000 residents left on their own or were evacuated by the police from the southern Romanian villages of Rast and Negoi after a dike collapsed Sunday, flooding the communities.
"No one was caught by the water in their homes," said Lt. Bogdan Nicolae, a spokesman for the local police. He said the water destroyed over 100 homes in Rast and the village was only accessible with large vehicles.