AMSTERDAM I rb I Flood swollen rivers weakened dikes and endangered a wider swath of the Dutch lowlands Wednesday .driving more l»eople lo flee ^ielr homes, re ports AP

The flooding the worst natural disaster to hit the Netherlands In more than 40 ic .irs - has uprooted more Ilian a hundred thousand peo

11 also threatens lo destrov centuries of eflorls lo create larmland from lx-low sea level marshes and flood plains The reclaimed land known as polders is protected by a net work ol riverine dikes massive earthen hums that extend hundreds of kilometers Imiles)

Tlei. at the confluence ol the flooded Maas and Waal rivers in central Holland was considered the most critical

A hundred thousand people liaie lieen asked to evacuate ihe Tleler en-Culemborger waard polder area that surrounds ihe town

Tlie dikes are soaked and weak ' said Wljnand van Buuren a spokesman for the Tiej Crisis centre

Al this level the water Is pressing against the dike

Van Buiirm.ui said Bui "the wa . ter is clear a sign that dikes Inundations are not yet being mlm away

Farther cast In Ilie polders of the Bommelerwaard Wamrl Diuien and Oijpolder. thou sand* of hectares (acres) of eastern farmland were under waler. Some 85.000 people fled their homes Moridav and I new lay

In the eastern provinces ol Geklerland and Limburg, lesi dents fled in vehicles with their livestock leaving behind farmland surreally empty of people and animals

Tlie problem Is moving the cattle Van Buurnian said Tltey re being moved by train

At least 140.000 head of* cattle and pigs are al risk

In 1953. a North Sea storm surge burst the dikes and flooded vast areas of the 'province of Zeeland drowning more than 1.800 people

The Netherlands flood wa ters are being fed by the drainage bf the storms and foods that have been blamed for at least 27 deaths across northwestern Europe That flooding triggered by the early inciting of Alpine snows com bined with heavy rains, has be gun to subside.