Rescue helicopters plucked stranded Swiss from roofs and balconies yesterday as rising water and strong currents prevented boats reaching homes in parts of Switzerland and more rain was forecast in coming days.

Lakes and rivers burst their banks after days of fierce downpours across Switzerland, Austria and Germany, cutting off roads, power and communications from hundreds of communities.

Mudslides blocked roads and railway tracks while some bridges were swept away by the force of floodwaters. “We have had to carry out rescue activities sincelast night by helicopter because we just can’t get through (with boats) anymore. The current is justtoo strong”, police spokesman Thomas Jeuch said in the Swiss capital, Berne.

Part of Berne old town was flooded and without power after the swollen Aare river burst its banks. Police said water levels continued to rise. “It will get worse before it gets better”, spokesman Franz Maerki said. Some residents waved for help from balconies while others used their mobile phones to call rescuers.

<B>Relief and aid efforts</B>

Forecasters said the weather could get worse with more rain expected in the coming days. “There is the risk that there could be another worsening of the situation”, Thomas Buechli, a weather forecaster said on Swiss television.

Seven people have died and thousands evacuated from their homes in Switzerland as floods spread from the Alps in central Switzerland to the eastern region bordering Austria.

In Austria, the death toll rose to three yesterday and a fourth person was missing, feared drowned, in the Vorarlberg region near the Swiss border, police said.

Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel called an emergency cabinet meeting for yesterday afternoon to discuss relief efforts and ministers promised aid for the millions of euros lost by farmers and homeowners.

As rain eased in Austria’s far western regions and in the Tyrol, hundreds of people were still cut off in valley villages. Around 17,000 firefighters helped by soldiers began repairing roads, pumping out basements and clearing mud from highways, bridges and railway lines.

In Germany, large tracts of land around Kochelsee and Bad Toelz in Bavaria were still under water though officials in the southern region said flood dangers had eased. Thousands of sandbags were protecting the town of Neu-Ulm, which lies between the Danube and Iller rivers, to prevent floodwater reaching houses and other buildings.

<B>Charles’ favorite ski station submerged</B>

Swiss railway said services remained disrupted in central partsof the country and the Bernese Alps. Goods transits through the Gotthard tunnel, part of Switzerland’s major north-south transport route, was stopped.

Water levels in Lake Lucerne, at the foot of some of Switzerland’s tallest mountains, also rose yesterday, albeit more slowly, local police said. In parts of central Switzerland, more rain had fallen in three days than normally in the whole of August, weather forecasters said.

Roads in the centre of Switzerland’s most popular tourist destination of Lucerne were awash and drinking water supplies in nearby villages contaminated. Electricity and telephone lines in parts of country remained cut off.

In the mountainous eastern region of Switzerland, parts of the village of Klosters – which hosts Britain’s Prince Charles for ski vacations each winter – were submerged and householders were taken to a local community centre.

<B>Thomas ATKINS</B>