BUCHAREST, March 23 (Reuters) - Heavy rains and melting snow are expected to cause sporadic flooding in central and eastern Romania in the coming days, but no major damages are expected, authorities said on Friday. Extensive floods have hit the Black Sea state in the past years. Last July 16,000 people were forced out of their homes and thousands of hectares of farmland were submerged. "We expect some floods, but damages will definitely not be as big as last year," said Ion Sandu, head of Romania's Meteorological Institute. He said the mountainous counties of Covasna and Prahova and the eastern counties of Buzau and Vrancea are at risk. Officials have ruled out the possibility of floods on the Romanian part of the Danube river which now flows at an average volume of 5,800 cubic metres per second, well below the multi-annual average level for March. More than 60 people died in 2005 during the worst flooding in decades.
