Floods threaten Greek and Bulgarian towns and farms

ATHENS, Mar 14 (Reuters) Soldiers and rescue teams rushed to evacuate dozens of towns in Greece today and neighbouring Bulgaria declared a state of emergency as swollen rivers flooded homes and farmland.

After weeks of heavy snow and rainfall, Greece's Evros region bordering Bulgaria to the north and Turkey to the east is threatened with its worst flooding in 15 years.

''We are preparing for a nightmare today and tonight,'' the Evros prefect said on television. ''At the moment we are at the mercy of the army who have been told to be on standby to evacuate people.'' Bulgaria declared a state of emergency in 15 central and southern districts and closed its border with Turkey as rivers burst their banks.

Over 400 houses were flooded near the central town of Plovdiv, leaving authorities racing to prevent a repeat of last year's floods which killed dozens and caused hundreds of millions of euros in damage.

''There are bound to be problems considering how long it has been raining,'' said Lili Kostadinova, spokeswoman for the civil defence agency.

''All necessary measures are being taken to prevent the situation from turning into the one we had last summer.'' In Greece, residents fled from several villages along the river overnight, and dozens of others towns were ordered to prepare for evacuation within hours.

Farmers were rushing to transport livestock and equipment away from the river. Some 50,000 acres (20,000 hectares) of farmland were already under water, in places a metre (three feet) deep.

Prefect Nikos Zambounidis said thousands of cubic metres of water from melting snow and rainfall were flowing into the Ardas and Evros rivers every hour and the situation could get worse.

''We are just hoping there won't be any human casualties,'' he said.

The Evros river delta, which forms the border with Turkey, is among the biggest of its kind in southeastern Europe and provides vast areas of fertile land for farmers.

One of the areas worst hit is the Greek town of Soufli where 6,000 acres of mainly grain fields have already been flooded.

''It started snowing again this morning and for us the next 72 hours are extremely crucial,'' Soufli mayor Minas Stergiou told Reuters.

''We have ordered people to move animals and equipment away and not to approach the river, which is 500 metres from the town. Our only aim now is not to have any deaths.'' Reuters PG DB2130