Balkans reeling from torrential rains

SHKODER, Albania — Torrential rains in the Balkans over the past two days led to floods that killed at least six people, prompted widespread evacuations and caused significant damage, authorities said Monday.

One of the most impacted areas was in northwestern Albania, where thousands of acres of agricultural land and hundreds of homes were flooded. Authorities evacuated scores of families amid power outages.

Early Monday, police divers found the bodies of two missing men, a father and son whose car was washed away Sunday in the village of Boge, some 90 miles north of the capital Tirana.

Swollen rivers in Montenegro and parts of Serbia claimed four lives over the weekend. A woman and her two children drowned in Montenegro when their car plunged into a river as it was going over a bridge. In southern Serbia, a 2-year-old boy drowned after falling into a river.

Authorities in the southern Serbian region of Raska proclaimed a state of emergency because of the heavy flooding and the army was deployed to help the local population with evacuations and deliveries of drinking water and food.

Torrential rain of up to 14 inches in 12 hours on Sunday caused the Drini River, the longest in Albania, to overflow its banks by at least 4 inches, according to the authorities.