At least eight people died and four were missing following a wave of torrential rain, mudslides and floods that struck many parts of Romania over the weekend. According to a Interior Ministry preliminary toll, some 34 towns and villages in six counties have been affected by extreme weather since Friday.

The six counties with most extensive damage are Harghita, Maramures, Suceava, Mehedinti, Dambovita si Galati. Floods also affected city quarters in Bucharest, Constanta and Sibiu.

Several dozen houses collapsed or were seriously damaged in the storms.

The village of Arbore in the county of Suceava suffered most trouble as people were washed away with their homes when torrential rain turned a small creek into a lahar late on Friday. Over 400 people were evacuated from their homes in the area.

Also on Friday night the a railroad link between the regions of Moldova and Transylvania was cut by mudflows.

And in Bucharest torrential rain flooded several streets on Saturday morning, paralyzing traffic or cutting electricity in the qarters of Tineretului, Giulesti, Crangasi, Prelungirea Ghencea.

Traffic in the South Constanta - Agigea port on the Black Sea coast was temporarily halted on Sunday morning because of extreme weather.