ATHENS, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Heavy rains on Saturday led authorities in northeastern Greece to evacuate two flooded villages while several other communities in the south of the country were threatened by rising river levels, officials and media said.

State television NET reported that several homes in northeastern Rodopi prefecture and the local capital of Komotini were flooded after a day of strong rainfall, leading to precautionary evacuations.

KAMPALA, Sept 28, 2007 (AFP) - African nations that bore the brunt of the continent's worst floods in three decades face a new epidemic threat and on Friday stepped up appeals for international help.

At least 300 people in 20 countries have died in floods over the past two months, according to figures from governments, hospitals and humanitarian sources compiled by AFP.

As the extent of the damage begins to emerge epidemic warnings are growing.

GENEVA, Sept 28, 2007 (AFP) - The Red Cross said Friday that it had observed a 'worrying' eightfold increase since 2004 in the number of African flood disasters it has to deal with.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the number of floods in Africa where the movement provided relief aid jumped from five in 2004 to 32 in 2006.

By mid September, with widespread flooding stretching across more than 20 countries from west to east Africa, the number of floods on the continent that mobilised Red Cross aid so far this year stood at 42.

LOME, Sept 28, 2007 (AFP) - The Togo government on Friday made an urgent appeal for food and medical aid to counter floods that have had killed hundreds in West and Central Africa over the past month.

Twenty three people have been reported dead in the West African nation and Cooperation Minister Gilbert Bawara told AFP: 'We are launching an appeal for solidarity and international aid to relieve the people hit by the floods.'

The ministry said that Togo needs emergency aid.

'We need food, medicines and the means to rebuild infrastructure,' Bawara said.

BHUBANESWAR, India, Sept 28, 2007 (AFP) - At least 69 people have died in rain-related accidents in eastern India since the start of September with tens of thousands stranded in state-run relief camps, officials said on Friday.

The situation in eastern Orissa state was grim with 40 dead, Manmohan Samal, minister for revenue and disaster management in the state, told AFP.

Further north in neighbouring West Bengal, heavy rains and related accidents claimed 29 lives with more than 200,000 homes destroyed, officials said.

LOME, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - Three more people died in Togo after recent torrential rains, taking the country's death toll up to 23 according to a new tally published Thursday.

The additional deaths occurred in Kpendjal province, 650 kilometres (404 miles) north of the capital, Togo Social Affairs Minister Roger Tamasse Danioue told AFP. Another 55 people have been hurt.

The rains have lashed other regions, and 22,000 people have been made homeless, said Danioue.

GENEVA, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - The Red Cross warned on Wednesday that a food crisis could be looming across east and west Africa due to the massive damage wrought on crops by ongoing flooding.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies highlighted the situation in Ghana, Sudan and Uganda, which are among the largest nations out of the 22 struck by floods that have affected an estimated 1.5 million people.

NAIROBI, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - Fresh rainfalls and slow relief have deepened the humanitarian crisis caused by record floods in Africa which have affected more than 1.5 million people and killed at least 300, aid agencies warned Tuesday.

The worst floods in three decades have now affected 22 countries, displacing hundreds of thousands and starkly raising the risk of epidemics since the deluge hit parts of the continent in July.

ROME, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) pledged Tuesday to use all its resources to help African nations hit by flooding that has killed at least 300.

Jacques Diouf, FAO director-general, said in a statement that the cost of assisting affected farming communities in east and west Africa was around 12 million dollars (8.5 million euros).

He also expressed fears that the large-scale flooding, which has hit 22 countries in sub-Saharan states since July, could be the result of climate change.

GENEVA, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - The UN's food relief agency said Tuesday that it would begin airdrops of food in Sudan next month in areas cut off by severe flooding that has struck a large swathe of Africa.

The World Food Programme said the airdrops in three southern Sudanese States would begin in October and last for about a month.

'The WFP will carry out the airdrops to help 43,800 victims of floods in three states in southern Sudan,' WFP spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume told journalists.

NAIROBI, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - Kenyan will spend 6.5 billion shillings (97 million dollars) to bolster flood defences in the west of the country, where at least 15 people have died in recent weeks, a report said Monday.

Special Programmes Minister John Munyes said the new project will find a 'permanent solution to the floods' in western Kenya, which experience flooding annually.

OUAGADOUGOU, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - At least 33 people have died in the west African nation of Burkina Faso Faso following torrential rains since August, the government said Monday.

The new toll is nearly double the number reported dead early this month out of some 40,000 affected by the record floods which have hit 22 sub-Saharan African nations.

'We have unfortunately lost 33 people following floods that hit almost the entire country during the month of August,' Pascaline Tamini, Minister of Social Action and National Solidarity, told AFP.

MADRID, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - Two people have died and another was missing after strong rains caused floods in southern and eastern Spain, authorities said Monday.

A 44-year-old German man drowned in his flooded garage in Almunecar on the southern coast, while in Sabiote, also in the south, two people were carried away by water while in an all-terrain vehicle.

One of their bodies was found Sunday while a search continued for the other person on Monday.

KAMPALA, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) - Hundreds of thousands of people were desperate for food and shelter across Africa Sunday after the worst floods in three decades, as fresh downpours hampered relief efforts.

Some 1.5 million people have been affected in 18 countries and close to 300 have been killed by the record floods.

In Uganda, one of Africa's worst-hit countries, authorities said that renewed rainfall in northeastern regions was complicating efforts to deliver aid to flood-affected areas.

KAMPALA, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) - Ugandan authorities said Sunday that fresh rainfall was complicating efforts to deliver aid to areas devastated by massive floods.

'The short dry period we experienced for three days was broken yesterday and it has been raining for the past 24 hours, making all roads inaccessible,' State Minister For Disaster Preparedness Musa Ecweru said.

NAYAGINIA, Ghana, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) - The victims of flooding in northern Ghana are still crying out for help, three weeks after the water started rising, sweeping away their crops and homes.

Daniel Moro, his two wives and eight children have not had a decent meal for more than a week.

'There is no food for the family to eat because all the crops have been destroyed. So there's nothing -- absolutely nothing,' he said with desperation in his voice.

ONGORO, Uganda, Sept 22, 2007 (AFP) - Ongoro is usually one the driest parts of Uganda and Francis Egoliam was sure the rains would stop. But now his house has been swept away by floods and his camp has disappeared under water.

'It all started with lightning that killed three animals. We thought it was going to be simple, instead it started raining daily and our crops have been destroyed and our houses have collapsed,' Egoliam says.

KAMPALA, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - Aid agencies appealed for funds Friday to tackle floods that have swept across at least 18 African countries, killing close to 300 already and heightening the risks of disease outbreaks.

The torrential rains and floods that have ravaged sub-Saharan Africa from the Atlantic coast to the Indian Ocean are believed to be the worst in three decades and caused by the 'La Nina' weather pattern.

GENEVA, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - The Red Cross warned Friday that a massive aid effort is needed to cope with floods in 18 countries across Africa that have already affected at least 1.5 million people and killed nearly 300.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said that the situation is expected to worsen, with more rain forecast in coming weeks.

SEOUL, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - North Korea has been pummelled by heavy rains for a second time in a month, state media said Friday, as the communist nation struggles to contain disease outbreaks from earlier floods.

Rice and other crops were lost as rains spawned by Typhoon Wipha inundated western provinces and the capital Pyongyang in the past three days, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

It said the new downpours had caused 'heavy losses in many sectors' of the economy and some areas damaged by last month's floods had again been hit.

SEOUL, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - North Korea has been pummelled by heavy rains that have caused 'heavy losses' and flooded swathes of cropland for the second time in a month, state media reported.

Rice and other crops were lost as rains spawned by Typhoon Wipha inundated western provinces and the capital Pyongyang in the past three days, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

KAMPALA, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - Uganda declared a state of emergency Thursday across several northern and eastern regions worst-hit by rains and floods that have affected an estimated 1.5 million people across Africa since August.

Last week the Ugandan government said 18 people had died due to the flooding and some 400,000 people were in need of assistance after being driven from their homes by the fast-rising waters or losing their livelihoods.

LJUBLJANA, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - Slovenia's government took emergency measures Thursday to help in the clean-up and reconstruction of areas devastated by floods and landslides in which six people have died.

Prime Minister Janez Jansa on Wednesday announced an initial 500,000 euro (700,000 dollar) emergency fund for areas hit by torrential rains.

The government also announced a day of national mourning for Friday.

GENEVA, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - Severe flooding caused by torrential rains stretching across Africa is probably linked to the 'La Nina' weather pattern thousands of mile away in the Pacific, a senior UN weather agency scientist said Thursday.

The World Meteorological Organisation warned in July that the combination of tropical wind patterns over the Pacific Ocean and cooler than normal sea temperatures off western Latin America could have a 'planetary' impact.

DAKAR, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - The United Nations said Wednesday that at least 1.5 million people from Mauritania in the west to Kenya in the east were affected by some of Africa's worst flooding in decades.

At least 270 people have died as result of the floods and waterborne disease across 18 affected countries according to an AFP tally from governments and humanitarian aid organisations.

DAKAR, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - The number of people affected by Africa's worst floods in decades has risen from one million to 1.5 million, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said Wednesday.

'Floods across Africa are reported to be the worst in decades in some places and extend in an arc from Mauritania in the west to Kenya in the east. At least an estimated 1.5 million people are so far affected,' WFP said in a statement.

LJUBLJANA, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - Four people died and four were still missing Wednesday, the day after the heaviest rains in 30 years hit Slovenia's northwest, causing flooding and mudslides, state radio said.

Two people were killed late Tuesday when a mudslide swept into a house in the Celje region, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Ljubljana, and two more died earlier in the day in the Cerklje region, some 60 kilometres (35 miles) northwest of the capital, the station said.

DAKAR, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - Forecasters were predicting Tuesday further downpours in the coming days over much of Africa, where at least 270 people have already died from flooding and one million are affected.

'We anticipate that the situation will worsen,' said Elizabeth Byrs from the UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), adding that heavy rains were forecast in west Africa between 18 and 24 September.

GENEVA, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - UN agencies and the Red Cross on Tuesday warned that the worst floods seen in parts of Africa for decades were intensifying and appealed for international aid to avert disease.

About a million people have been affected by torrential rains stretching east to west across Africa since July, with Ghana and Uganda accounting for more than half the tally alone, said Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for the UN's humanitarian coordination office (OCHA).

GENEVA, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - United Nations agencies on Tuesday warned that the worst floods seen in parts of Africa for decades could intensify in the coming days and appealed for international aid to avert the threat of disease.

About a million people have been affected by torrential rains stretching between West and East Africa since July, with Ghana and Uganda accounting for more than half the tally alone, the UN's humanitarian coordination office (OCHA) said.

DHAKA, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - A new strain of rice may be able to resist floods that destroy vast tracts of paddy fields in Bangladesh each year, offering hope to millions of poor farmers, researchers say.

The farmers lose their rice crops when fields are submerged by annual floods triggered when rivers, fed by heavy monsoon rains and melting Himalayan glaciers, burst their banks.

DHAKA, Sept 15, 2007 (AFP) - The death toll from flooding this year in impoverished Bangladesh crossed 1,000 on Saturday with a further 2.5 million people displaced or marooned by rising river waters, officials said.

The Brahmaputra and the Ganges began swelling again early this week, bursting their banks and submerging thousands of villages again in more than a third of the country, the government flood centre said.

LOME, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - Several of Africa's poorest countries are in dire need of assistance due to severe floods that have killed more than 200 people and affected a million in recent weeks, officials warned Friday.

The latest victims were reported in Rwanda, where officials from the northern region said floods killed 15 people and destroyed more than 500 homes since Wednesday.

In Sudan, the worst floods in living memory have left 64 people dead and displaced and affected several hundred thousand, mainly in the troubled south, according to the United Nations.

ACCRA, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - Eighteen people have been killed after flooding hit dozens of villages in northern Ghana, a government team that visited the devastated area said Friday.

Last week, the minister in charge of the affected region, Alhassan Samari, said at least six people lost their lives in the flooding caused by torrential rains. But residents had warned the death toll might rise further.

The government team told reporters that 260,873 people in the west African nation have lost their homes to the floods.

KIGALI, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - Floods caused by torrential rain in the central African country of Rwanda have killed 15 people and destroyed hundreds of homes, officials said Friday.

'It's been a disaster. The rain started on July 12 at around 1200 GMT and following torrential downpours, ten people were killed,' said Charles Ngirabatware, the mayor of Byabihu district, one of the worst affected areas.

'The bodies of other people were found Friday,' he told AFP. 'It's difficult to determine the exact death toll because the floods are not over yet.'

LOME, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - Flooding across much of West and Central Africa has killed at least 75 people and threaten around a half million, according to UN officials and government ay as several countries reported worsening conditions.

At least 33 people have died in Burkina Faso Faso, 20 in Togo and six in Ghana, according to figures released by the UN humanitarian affairs office in Geneva on Friday. Further east 15 people have been killed in Rwanda, its government said.

Ghana, Burkina Faso Faso and Mauritania have all made appeals for international help.

ZURICH, Sept 11, 2007 (AFP) - The Swiss insurance group Zurich Financial Services said Tuesday that it expected that claims from floods in Britain in July would reach up to 260 million dollars (187 million euros).

That would bring Zurich's total claims estimate for summer floods in Britain up to about 660 million dollars, including an earlier figure of 400 million dollars due to floods in northern and central England in June.

The latest 260 million dollar estimate related to floods on July 20 to 23 in southern England, the company said in a statement.

LONDON, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - Supermodel Naomi Campbell said Monday she would stage a fashion show to help the victims of deadly floods in Britain earlier this year.

The 37-year-old Briton has teamed up with the fellow models Elle MacPherson, Yasmin Le Bon and Jodie Kidd for the 'Fashion for Relief' event, to help those affected by floods which left seven people dead over the summer.

GUWAHATI, India, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - More than one million people have been evacuated or stranded as rivers in northeastern India and Bangladesh rose to alarming levels and submerged vast swathes of countryside, officials said Monday.

In India's Assam state, the army helped shift an estimated 800,000 people as the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries -- swollen by monsoon rains -- breached their embankments late Sunday.