REUTHE, Austria (AP) -- Flood victims waded into their homes to shovel out mud and stagnant water Wednesday while heavy machinery cleared debris from village streets as volunteers fanned out to clean up after heavy rains and landslides swept central and southern Europe.
With a break in torrential downpours, authorities tallied the aftermath of storms that killed 34 people in the region over the past week. Worst hit was Romania, with 25 dead and thousands of homes inundated. Austria, Bulgaria and Switzerland reported a total of nine dead - though the number could climb as the missing are accounted for.
Parts of the Swiss capital, Bern, were submerged by the deluge, forcing authorities to plan evacuations for more people Wednesday _ by helicopter if necessary. In Germany, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder promised assistance for those affected by flooding in Bavaria while authorities prepared for rising river levels downstream from the Alps.
Military helicopters airlifted tourists out of some of the hardest-hit areas in Austria, where streets had crumpled beside the swollen rivers. Parts of the western Austrian province of Vorarlberg remained cut off by closed roads, though sunny skies and predictions of less rainfall improved spirits.
''The situation is a bit better,'' said Doris Ita, the head of Austria's flood emergency department.
Hundreds of people were evacuated as waters rose Tuesday following storms that sent thundering cascades of muddy brown water surging along riverbanks in many regions, causing millions of euros (dollars) in damage. As small streams became raging rivers, many returned to find little left.
Margit Metzler, 37, who runs a carpentry firm in Reuthe, 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Innsbruck, stood in the courtyard of her home and workshop with shovel in hand. As about 50 relatives shoveled out the muck behind her, Metzler insisted the deluge would not defeat her.
''We're going to rebuild,'' she said, adding that she was insured.
The mayor of Reuthe, a community of 630, said the leaders of dozens of other nearby villages had volunteered to help. Among his biggest problems were spectators coming to examine the damage - particularly a part of the village that had been transformed into a lake.
Among the fortunate were 150 people rescued after being stranded at a shopping mall in the town of Worgl, 60 kilometers (40 miles) northeast of Innsbruck, state television reported. The group spent the night at the center before Austria's military evacuated them by boat.
Across the border in southern Germany, rail lines were swamped and a highway closed. Though floodwaters receded slightly Wednesday, authorities were watching rising water levels further downstream on the Danube, Isar and Inn rivers.
Schroeder, who is campaigning for Sept. 18 elections, promised to help.
''In such situations, it is not political considerations that count but only unity in helping the affected region, the affected people,'' Schroeder told German television. ''We will mobilize what we can, on the national as well as the European level.''
Three years ago, Schroeder stamped his personal authority on the fight against disastrous flooding in eastern Germany _ a move that helped him to a narrow victory over challenger Edmund Stoiber in that year's elections. This time Angela Merkel, the leader of Germany's main opposition Christian Democrats, is challenging the chancellor.
Downpours deluged central Romania, and rising waters swept away seven elderly people late Tuesday in the hard hit county of Harghita.
About 20,000 homes throughout Romania have been submerged since flooding began last week and hundreds of small bridges have been damaged.
In central Switzerland, water levels remained high. A number of towns still were half-buried underwater as some residents returned to their homes after being evacuated Tuesday. The town of Engelberg in the canton (state) of Obwalden has been left isolated from the rest of Switzerland after its only connecting road was washed away by landslide on Tuesday.
The central Swiss village of Brienz, where one person died and another is still missing, was left half-buried in mud with many homes still inaccessible.
Several roads remained blocked as of midday on Wednesday (1000 GMT), including the Gotthard Pass which serves as one of the main routes of commerce between Italy and Germany. A number of lines on Switzerland's national railway network remained suspended with tracks and stations still underwater.
''It is a huge catastrophe,'' Walter Dietrich, a government official of the popular tourist destination of Interlaken, told the daily Basler Zeitung.
Associated Press Writers Irene Preisinger in Germany, Anca Teodorescu in Romania and Bradley S. Klapper in Switzerland contributed to this story.
