Death toll from Russian floods rises to 144
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E-mail Xinhua, July 8, 2012
The death toll from recent downpours and floods in southern Russia reached 144 by Sunday morning, as the country was grappling with one of its worst floodings in decades.
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Torrential rains and flooding have killed more than 100 people in Russia's southern Krasnodar Territory. |
In the rain-swept Krasnodar region, "144 people have died, of which five were killed by electric shocks," the Russian Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin flew over the flood-affected region by helicopter on Saturday evening, local media reported. At about 8:30 p.m. Moscow time (1630 GMT), Putin visited the severely- hit district of Krymsk, according to a report of the Interfax news agency.
Before leaving for Gelendzhik, the president had an urgent meeting in Krymsk with state and regional officials to discuss crisis management plans.
Putin planned to inspect most of the affected localities in the region, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier in the day.
In the district of Krymsk, water levels rose by seven meters overnight following heavy rains, local media reported. The flood struck when most people were sleeping, many in one-story houses that were easily inundated.
Police were assisting residents to evacuate from rooftops and trees as flood waters began to subside, the regional government said.
So far, more than 2,300 households and some 7,000 people have been affected in the Black Sea coastal regions, the interior ministry said.
Local TV footage showed residents in raincoats standing in waist-deep waters at home and waiting for the rescue teams. Cars were floating in muddy yellow waters, while rescue workers were busy shipping the injured out of their damaged homes by boat.
Dozens of people were hospitalized due to injuries caused by the flooding. Medical staff and specialists were sent to the disaster-hit areas, according to the Itar-Tass news agency. The Russian Health Ministry said it was following the situation closely and was ready to offer further help if needed.
The Emergency Situations Ministry forecast that new rains with fresh gales up to 12 meters per second could hit the Krasnodar Territory in the coming two days.
According to Russia's hydrometeorological service, the precipitation level in Krasnodar in the past 16 hours was four to five times higher than the usual monthly average.
A state of emergency was declared in the city of Novorossiisk, following more than 110 millimeters of rainfall in the past 24 hours and the flooding of houses in downtown areas, the municipal government said. It added that four evacuation centers were set up to help the flood victims.
Traffic on the Krymskaya-Bakanskaya railway and Krasnodar- Novorossiisk highways was suspended due to the flooding. In the Gelendzhik region, more than 22,000 people were left without power.
The governor of the Perm region said earlier at a government emergency meeting that he had decided to evacuate 200 children from Gelendzhik, according to Itar-Tass.
Officials in Gelendzhik estimated that losses from the flooding could exceed one billion rubles (about 30 million U.S. dollars), while a presidential envoy to the Southern Federal District said that the amount could be higher.
An Il-76 plane carrying rescue workers left Ramenskoye Airport in the Moscow region at 10:00 a.m. Moscow time (0600 GMT) and arrived in the Krasnodar Territory on Saturday afternoon. Two light helicopters were also on board, according to the Itar-Tass report.
A government commission was set up to coordinate disaster relief efforts. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev also sent Minister of Regional Development Oleg Govorun and Minister of Emergency Situations Vladimir Puchkov to the flooded regions to oversee the rescue and relief work.
Puchkov has asked rescue workers to pay special attention to resort centers and sanitariums in the affected areas, it was reported.
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