In Romania, the worst-hit country where tens of thousands of hectares are submerged, some 4,000 people have moved to high ground since Sunday after earth-work dikes near poor southern villages collapsed, putting the total of evacuees at 9,520.

In the village of Bechet, some 900 people have fled their houses, many made from mud bricks, and rescuers were rushing out hundreds more after a nearby dike burst.

"The dike we are trying to build since this morning has already four rows of sandbags, but still I don't think we can raise it faster than the water is rising," Bechet mayor Constantin Oclei told Reuters.

A police helicopter saved 11 people trapped on isolated plots of land near Bechet surrounded by swollen waters who had initially refused to leave.

Further downstream in villages of Oltina and Spantov, authorities said evacuations had stopped as the Danube receded from century highs, but soldiers kept reinforcing flood defences using bulldozers and trucks in case water levels rise again.

"There is still a risk that more dikes will fall as pressure remains very high with water two metres (six ft) above flooding levels at some places," said Elena Anghel, hydrologist at Romania's National Hydrology Institute.

Authorities were considering whether to carry out more controlled flooding on the Danube to reduce water pressure on soaked dikes after having swamped around 48,000 hectares of land over the past week.

The floods forced hundreds of Romanians to spend Orthodox Easter Sunday -- a closely observed holiday in the Balkans -- in a bleak refugee camp away from their flooded village with little hope of returning home.

SLOW DECREASE

In Hungary, the swollen Tisza river retreated slightly on Tuesday, but authorities said 4,000 people have been working overnight at its confluence with the Koros river to plug large cracks in a dike. Over 2,000 people have been evacuated so far.

"The situation is extremely critical," Gyula Reich, Environment and Water Ministry spokesman told Reuters. "The rivers are retreating slowly. It could take another 10-12 days and meanwhile the dikes are getting soaked."

In the town of Szolnok, the Tisza water level stood at 10.06 metres on Tuesday, just 7 centimetres off its peak.

The Balkans are still reeling from devastating floods which killed scores of people and left thousands homeless last summer. The Danube originates in Germany and flows through or forms borders with 10 countries before emptying into the Black Sea.

Bulgarian officials said the Danube fell by 23 centimetres over the past 24 hours in one of the worst affected towns of Nikopol and between two and seven centimetres at other places.