Eight people have died and hundreds have been evacuated in remote eastern Romania as torrential rains caused flash flooding, officials reported Thursday.

Authorities said some 700 houses were flooded after 12 villages were hit by a six-hour downfall that began Wednesday evening and equaled the region's average rainfall for two months.

Six people drowned, one is missing and two others had fatal heart attacks amid the deluge, local official Nicolae Bacalbasa said Thursday. Authorities were still searching flooded homes for more possible victims in the region, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) northeast of Bucharest near the country's border with Moldova.

Forty-five people were rescued from the floodwaters and 330 people were evacuated from their homes, the Interior Ministry reported. Roads in the area were impassable Thursday.

The worst-hit village was Cudalbi, where 500 houses were flooded, 200 people were evacuated and one person died, Bacalbasa said. Two people died in the village of Cuca, and two others died in Costache Negri, where 100 houses were flooded.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta sent a deputy to view the area and called an emergency meeting Thursday to discuss the situation.

More rain is forecast for the coming days.