Flooding from record-setting rains swept away hundreds of homes and left at least three people dead in Texas and Oklahoma.
Two people died in weather-related accidents in Oklahoma and a man died in San Marcos, Texas.
Parts of Texas saw up to 10 inches of rain over a 24-hour period, with more predicted across the region.
There were numerous rescues on May 24 after banks burst, and hundreds of homes were destroyed in central Texas.
Warnings and alerts stretch from Colorado through to Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri and eastern Kansas.
One of the worst hit rivers was the Blanco in Texas.
At one point it crested at 43ft – some 30ft above the designated flood stage and 7ft higher than the 1929 record.
A flash flood emergency – reserved for the most life-threatening situations – is in effect in the river basin area.
Some 1,000 people nearby were evacuated and parts of the Interstate 35 highway were flooded and closed.
San Marcos emergency management coordinator, Kenneth Bell, said the body of one man had been recovered but had no more details. Three more people are missing.
Kristi Wyatt, communications director for the town, said: “We have people on car tops and rooftops awaiting rescue. People in homes are going to higher levels.”
She said hundreds of people were now in evacuation centers and that floodwaters had washed away five police cars.
Several hundred houses were destroyed in the town of Wimberley.
A tornado hit Houston briefly on May 24, damaging buildings and injuring at least two people.
Warnings of more tornados have been issued for parts of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.
A mandatory evacuation was ordered at Lake Lewis, 50 miles north of Houston, which itself saw high winds bringing down trees and blowing out windows.
The National Weather Service says Oklahoma City already has a new monthly rainfall record for May – at 18.19 inches.
In Colorado, El Paso and Pueblo counties and the city of Sterling were badly affected.
Burning Man festival, the annual counterculture event in the desert of northern Nevada, has been closed on opening day amid rare heavy rains.
Thousands of burners are stuck in Reno, Nevada, after the rainstorm delayed the start of Burning Man festival.
Organizers said the gate to the temporary desert city would be closed until at least midday on Tuesday, August 25, as the Black Rock desert playa turned to mud.
Festival goers are being advised to stay in nearby Reno overnight because law enforcement officers are turning cars back from flooded roads.Police were turning people around at the entrance to avoid stuck vehicles.
Burning Man festival has been closed on opening day amid rare heavy rains
Many of the would-be attendees began setting up camp at nearby Pyramid Lake, local media reported.
Hundreds of people gathered outside a shop on August 25 to buy camping permits, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.
Burning Man festival, which attracts about 50,000 people each year, is due to run through September 1.
In 2013, a record 68,000 people attended Burning Man festival, which ends with the burning of a four-storey effigy.
Ten people are confirmed dead and several others are missing after torrential rain and heavy floods hit eastern Bulgaria, officials say.
Floodwaters in the Black Sea port city of Varna surged up to 3.2ft.
Ten people are confirmed dead and several others are missing after torrential rain and heavy floods hit eastern Bulgaria (photo AP)
Many residents had to be rescued as cars were swept away. Hundreds have been left without electricity or food.
There have been hailstorms and heavy rain in several parts of Bulgaria in recent days. Forecasts say the extreme weather is set to continue.
Forecasters said that the equivalent of a month’s worth of rain fell in the regions of Varna and Burgas over the last 24 hours.
“The tragedy is enormous. I am here on a street in the suburb of Aspruhovo. The street is not here, the houses are not here, there are cars on top of each other,” Varna mayor Ivan Portnih was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Fire-fighters in the town of Kilifarevo in central Bulgaria rescued 11 people from the tops of their houses, police said.
Last month nearby Serbia and Bosnia were hit by the worst flooding since modern records began.
Some 600 people have been evacuated in the German city of Dresden as Central Europe floodwater continues to threaten parts of southern Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic.
The level of the River Elbe in the historic German city is not expected to peak until Thursday morning.
Emergency workers have been shoring up a dyke under threat from high water in the Austrian city of Krems.
At least 12 people have died and two are missing as a result of the floods across the three countries.
Seven deaths were recorded in the Czech Republic and three in Germany, while two people were reported dead and two missing in Austria, according to a European Commission update early on Tuesday evening.
Parts of Germany have not seen such severe flooding in centuries. However, in the Czech Republic, the water level has stabilized in the capital Prague, where there had been fears of a repeat of disasters in 2002 and 1997.
Some 600 people have been evacuated in Dresden as floodwater continues to threaten parts of southern Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic
River levels rose after sudden heavy rain following a very wet spring, which had left the ground saturated and unable to absorb the extra water.
Six hundred people had to leave their homes in Dresden and electricity was turned off in some parts of the city, a city spokeswoman told the German news agency dpa.
In another eastern city, Halle, streets were under water on Wednesday morning. According to German news magazine Spiegel, it is the highest water level in the city in four centuries.
Meanwhile, the floods were receding in the south German city of Passau. People could be seen sweeping up muck from their streets.
In Krems, the Austrian authorities were making plans to evacuate villagers as a local dyke looked at risk of collapsing under the swollen Danube.
Thousands of people left their homes in the Czech Republic in recent days as floodwater threatened to overwhelm flood barriers.
In the low-lying industrial city of Usti nad Labem, the River Elbe was spilling over the 10 m-high (33 ft-high) metal flood barriers.
The peak there is expected some time on Wednesday.
The main rail link connecting Prague and Berlin in Germany has been underwater, with trains being diverted.
Southern and eastern German cities are on high alert as heavy floodwaters swell rivers including the Elbe.
In Halle, an appeal has gone out to residents to help reinforce flood defenses while Dresden is preparing for water levels 5 m higher than normal.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has promised 100 million euros ($130 million) in emergency aid for flood-hit areas.
Meanwhile, river levels in Prague have begun to fall, say the Czech authorities, as floodwaters move north.
Overnight, flood barriers on the River Vltava in the south of the country were raised, releasing a torrent of water.
However, Prague’s flood defenses appear to have held, and the risk of severe flooding in the city centre seems to be receding.
The city of Regensburg has declared a state of emergency, while in the state of Saxony – which includes Dresden – officials were warning of higher water levels than during the record floods of 2002.
The bodies of two people, a man and a woman, were found separately around the southern town of Guenzburg. At least seven people have died in the Czech Republic and two in Austria after days of heavy rain.
Hungary has also declared a state of emergency. Floodwaters on the Danube are expected to peak there on Thursday.
Southern and eastern German cities are on high alert as heavy floodwaters swell rivers including the Elbe
Germany has drafted in the army to help with flood defences.
In the Bavarian town of Passau, floodwaters reached a level not seen since the 16th Century, but have now begun to recede.
Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the worst affected regions on Tuesday, flying over Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia by helicopter.
She promised 100 million euros in immediate aid, of which 50 million euros will go to Bavaria.
In the Czech Republic, a nationwide state of emergency is still in force. Water levels are expected to peak in the north later on Tuesday.
Around 3,000 people have been forced to leave their homes across the west of the country.
As a precaution, Prague’s metro system and central sewage treatment plant were closed, metal flood defenses were erected and sandbags built up along the banks of the Vltava.
The Charles Bridge – normally packed with tourists – was shut and tigers at the city’s zoo were tranquilized and moved out of an enclosure thought to be at risk.
A system of nine dams called the Vltava Cascade was found to be dangerously full, and the floodgates were opened at 20:00 local time on Monday night.
North of Prague, further downstream, the River Elbe is rising to levels approaching those seen in 2002, the last time Europe experienced similar floods.
Seventeen people were killed in the Czech Republic in August 2002 and the cost of the damage across the continent was estimated at 20 billion euros ($26 billion).
Main roads in many areas of central Europe have been closed and rail services cut. Thousands of homes are without power.
In Austria, the meteorological service said two months of rain had fallen in just two days.
Hundreds of homes have been evacuated across southern Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland as rivers reach dangerously high levels.
The Czech capital Prague is on high alert as a swell of floodwater moves in from the south.
Both Germany and Austria are deploying their armies to help emergency services.
A man was killed by a landslide near Salzburg in Austria and two people have died in the Czech Republic.
The Czech government has declared a nationwide state of emergency.
The Czech deaths came after floodwaters destroyed flimsy country cottages. Two more people are missing in the country after their raft overturned on a swollen river.
Firemen in Czech Republic capital have been putting up metal flood barriers and volunteers filling sandbags as the River Vltava is due to reach peak levels in Prague some time on Monday morning.
Czech PM Petr Necas has called a special cabinet session to co-ordinate the emergency response.
Hundreds of homes have been evacuated across southern Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland as rivers reach dangerously high levels
Authorities believe the river in Prague will not reach the levels it did in 2002, when parts of the city were devastated, but will still be high enough to cause severe damage.
Bavaria’s flood alert service warns that the forecast of continuing heavy rain is likely to worsen the flooding affecting the Danube and the Inn, among other rivers in the area.
The German cities of Passau and Rosenheim have declared a state of emergency.
Authorities in Passau, which lies at the confluence of three rivers in Bavaria, say they expect the Danube to reach 10.5m by Sunday evening and have requested help from the German army.
Bavaria is not the only German state to be affected; towns and cities in Saxony, Thuringia and Baden-Wuerttemberg are also inundated.
The Munich-based newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reports that the German army is to be deployed in Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia to support the flood-affected areas.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has discussed the floods in phone calls with the premiers of Bavaria and Saxony, the paper says.
Near the Austrian city of Salzburg a man was found dead after being swept away as he worked to clear a landslip.
Two further people are missing in the Salzburg area, according to Austrian media. A third is missing in Vorarlberg.
The Austrian army was called in to help civil authorities in the settlement of Taxenbach, south of Salzburg. Their main task was to clear landslides and make roads passable.
Parts of the Pinzgau region, which includes Taxenbach, have been declared a disaster zone.
Venice may be known as the Floating City of love, but romance was cast aside today as gondolas were swapped for wellington boots and swimwear.
High tides and heavy rain flooded Venice’s dry streets, leaving tourist hotspots virtually deserted.
Tourists chose to wade through the waters in boots, with one group donning swimwear to sit at a table in the iconic submerged St. Mark’s Square.
One hardy couple even decided to go for a quick swim.
Others had less enjoyable tasks, with some visitors being forced to wade through nearly waist-high waters carrying suitcases on their shoulders.
Heavy rains and seas whipped up by strong winds brought the lagoon city’s high tide mark to its sixth-highest level since records began being kept 150 years ago in 1872.
The water levels rose to critical levels overnight.
Venice may be known as the Floating City of love, but romance was cast aside today as gondolas were swapped for wellington boots and swimwear
It was reported that 70% of central Venice was under water today as the high tide mark reached 59.06inches.
Those who decided to take a break from the flooded streets were captured in wellington boots standing in water in coffee shops.
Makeshift wooden walkways had to be used to cross areas of St. Mark’s square, with transportation proving difficult for residents.
Italian news reports said the same weather system causing chaos in Venice was wreaking havoc elsewhere in north and central Italy, with some 200 people evacuated from their homes in hard-hit Tuscany.
Flooding is common in the city at this time of year. Moveable barriers that would rise from the sea bed to protect Venice from high tides have been in the works for years but will not be operational before 2014.
The floods that hit parts of North Korea in recent weeks have killed 169 people and left 400 missing, the state news agency says, sharply revising earlier casualty figures.
The floods and heavy rain in late June and July have also made more than 212,000 people homeless, it says.
Some 65,000 hectares (160,000 acres) of cropland were affected.
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) says it is sending emergency food aid to North Korea after it asked for aid.
The floods that hit parts of North Korea in recent weeks have killed 169 people and left 400 missing
Official media had previously reported 119 deaths in the floods.
On Friday, the WFP said the initial food assistance would provide flood victims with 400 g (14 oz) of maize per day for two weeks, but it did not say when the food would arrive.
UN officials in Pyongyang who visited flood-hit parts of the country to assess damage said the need for aid was urgent.
Damage to infrastructure and farmland has affected the country’s already dire food shortage problem.
More than 8,600 houses were destroyed and another 43,770 swamped, along with some 1,400 schools, factories and healthcare facilities, according to the state news agency.
Residents in these areas need of food supplies, as well as clean water, as wells have been contaminated by sewage during the floods.
North Korea relies on food aid because it cannot grow enough food to feed its people.
Famine in the mid-1990s is believed to have killed hundreds of thousands of people.
A UN report released last month estimated that two-thirds of North Korea’s 24 million population suffer from a chronic shortage of food.
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