Russia: Flooding in the Krasnodar region, 78 dead! This flooding is the first time in 70 years! More than 5000 houses are under water!

At least 171 people have been killed in a devastating flood in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region. It's the worst of its kind in nearly a century, and the death toll continues to rise.

Some 479 people, 48 children among them, have sought medical aid following the flood. Almost 3,000 people have been evacuated from the disaster area.

More than 24,000 people have been affected by the disaster. A state of emergency has been declared in the cities of Krymsk, Novorossiysk, and Gelendzhik. In total 159 bodies have been recovered so far in Krymsk, ten in Gelendzhik and two in Novorossiysk.

Deputy Minister of the Interior Aleksandr Gorovoy said that the search for bodies continued as there are still two people unaccounted for. Also, he voiced fears that more people could be missing.

The flood was part of the aftermath of a giant storm that hit Krasnodar, dropping almost half a year’s rainfall on the region over two days. The weather forecast promises more heavy rains and squally wind to hit the region by night.

The most heavily affected areas are along the Russian Black Sea coast, which bore the brunt of the deluge as it rushed out to sea.

A day of mourning will be held across Russia on July 9 to commemorate the victims of the flood.

'A wall of water’ in Krymsk

Krymsk has been affected worst of all as the deluge engulfed it overnight, tearing through the city and leaving a trail of desolation in its wake. Witnesses reported buildings destroyed and trucks and other vehicles being overturned.

One driver said his truck was literally carried tens of meters by the deluge. In a separate incident, a ten-year-old girl was ripped from her mother and sister’s arms by the force of the current.

“This is not just rain or a downpour, this is a catastrophe. There was a wall of water, it was difficult to breath,” wrote an eyewitness on a social networking site.

People desperately tried to escape the advancing deluge, fleeing to higher ground and taking refuge on the roofs of buildings.

In the city of Gelendzhik, workers at a kindergarten managed to get children onto the second floor of the building just in time before the waters hit. While one woman in Krymsk reportedly spent six hours on top of a gas oven to escape the rising waters.

Five people in Gelendzhik were electrocuted to death after a wire fell into the water. A man trying to cross a puddle next to a store on Kerchenskaya Street was the first to receive fatal injuries. Two women and another man rushed to help him, but were also killed by the electric current. A third man later approached the four bodies, and was himself electrocuted to death, his body carried away by the oncoming flood waters.

Local authorities say a large part of the casualties were pensioners unable to escape from their homes when the floodwaters struck.

The Governor of the Krasnodar region Aleksandr Tkachyov surveyed the damage in the Gelendzhik and Krymsky districts from a helicopter as early as Saturday morning in order to estimate repairs, sending updates on the situation via Twitter.

“The scale of it is spectacular, to be sure, and very tragic. The water came with such force that it tore up the asphalt,” the governor wrote on Saturday.

Source; http://www.rt.com/news/toll-dead-region-floods-633/

Federal investigators, however, acknowledged Sunday that water had been released naturally from the reservoir, but they insisted it did not cause the flooding and the dam had not been breached. They said the problem was the heavy and sudden rainfall.

Many residents remained unconvinced, however. During an outdoor meeting with the regional governor, who tried to persuade them that the reservoir was not the source of the flooding, residents shouted that they did not believe him and repeatedly interrupted him. The governor then agreed to allow five citizens and a journalist to fly over the dam in a helicopter.

Putin had already sent his emergencies minister on an inspection mission, a further indication of the concern over the condition of the reservoir. Vladimir Puchkov later reported that he had flown over the dam and seen no evidence of any damage.

Source; http://www.cbc.ca/m/rich/news/story/2012/07/08/russia-floods-putin....

Severe flash floods in Russia's Krasnodar region have killed at least 134 people and affected nearly 13,000. It is the southern Russian region's worst natural disaster in decades, officials said yesterday. President Vladimir Putin was expected to personally inspect the worst-hit areas as officials feared the death toll could go up even further. Residents were caught completely by surprise by the force of the waters, which ripped up paving and traffic lights, flooded the ground floors of houses, railways and roads, witnesses and officials said. One woman reportedly had to spend a night up a tree before being rescued from the floods caused by what officials said were exceptionally heavy rainstorms. In the district of Krymsk, an area worst hit by the disaster, officials had already discovered 92 bodies including that of a 10-year-old, a police spokesman said.

Officials have not been able to explain the large number of deaths, except by saying that the water swelled in the local Bakanka river and the disaster struck while Krymsk residents were asleep

"Everything happened at night and very quickly," the regional administration said in a statement. Police declined to speculate on the reasons behind the massive toll, saying Moscow-based investigators were conducting a probe. The Russian Internet was abuzz with speculation that people died in a man-made catastrophe resulting from an open sluice gate at a water reservoir. Authorities denied the reports. Unfortunately, the rumour mills works much faster than the official information," a spokeswoman for the regional governor, Anna Minkova, said on popular Echo of Moscow radio. "No water reservoir, no gate has been opened," she said, adding that the district did not have a reservoir that might have caused the flooding. Nine people were reported killed in the popular Black Sea resort town of Gelendzhik and another two in the port of Novorossiisk over the past two days, police said. The victims included two woman and three men electrocuted in Gelendzhik on Friday. The authorities said they had to switch off power in the worst-affected areas to avoid more deaths. Tatyana, a resident of Krymsk whose house, perched on a hill, was not affected by the floods, said the disaster struck unexpectedly.

"The water rose very quickly," she said, declining to give her last name. "It flooded people's ground floors in five to 10 minutes, ripped out pavement kerbs and even pieces of asphalt," she said. Local people had received no warning from the emergency services, she added. "Many elderly people must have been asleep and probably died," she said. "In the morning, there were boats on the neighbouring street. A woman spent the night in a tree and then was rescued." The resort town of Gelendzhik received five months' worth of rain in 24 hours, the regional administration said. Novorossiisk, Russia's largest port on the Black Sea, received two month's worth of rain in 24 hours. A team had worked through the night to bring the situation under control in the port, port spokesman Mikhail Sidorov said. "In some places the water level reached 1.5 metres," he said. The floods and a landslide had affected the port's operations and pipeline operator Transneft had informed management that it would halt shipments of crude oil, he added. Krasnodar governor Alexander Tkachev said he had spoken by phone to both Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and pledged everything would be done to help those affected by the floods. "Of course, it came as a shock to us," he said. "We've never had this before." In remarks broadcast on television, he expressed the hope that residents would not resort to looting. "You can see from the air that the water in Gelendzhik has nearly died down but something unimaginable is happening in Krymsk," Mr Tkachev said on Twitter as he toured the flood-hit areas earlier in the day. The regional administration said the floods affected the homes of nearly 13,000 people.

Situation Update No. 2 on Sunday, 08 July, 2012 at 03:46 UTC - http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_update_read&edi...

7 of 10 Streching -

Russia:

/ According to recent reports, nearly 70 people were killed. "Here in Gelendzhik and the Crimean region, flooding is the first time in 70 years. Crimean district of more injured, more than 5000 houses are under water," /

/ The number of flood victims in the Krasnodar region has increased to 78 people /

/ "It all happened at night. People just ran out of the house because there was a big wave of water, because no one warned. Two-story house was flooded up to the second floor. Water came very quickly. It was not rain. I do not know, is the official data or not but in saying that the reservoir was opened, which is located in the hills above the city. From there came a wave. in the city was sharply 7 m of water. Prior to that indeed there was a thunderstorm, but the water came so suddenly that for 15 minutes all flooded, " - she said. /

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Russia:

The number of flood victims in the Kuban region growing

According to recent reports, nearly 70 people were killed

More and more dead bodies found after rescuers Krasnodar outflow of water. However, the threat of new flooding comes down to "no", the situation in general, according to the governor of the region Tkachev, normal.

"Here in Gelendzhik and the Crimean region, flooding is the first time in 70 years. Crimean district of more injured, more than 5000 houses are under water," - said at a meeting of the operational headquarters of the Federal Territory Governor Alexander Tkachev, RIA Novosti reported.

He added that Gelendzhik suffered to a lesser extent, and the water went down there just a couple of hours. "Now the city is virtually no water, there is electricity - said Tkachev. - There should be no panic, rapid decisions, ill-considered. Situation with the weather stabilizes literally in the next few hours."

With the assistance of the army, the Emergencies Ministry and the Interior Ministry is the operation to evacuate the victims of raging floods in the Kuban. On behalf of the Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Kolokoltsev to work out a plan to eliminate the consequences of floods created by operational staff. To strengthen the group of rescuers from Moscow to Anapa directed special flight with helicopters and specialists on board the MOE, ITAR-TASS reported.

At the same time, members of the investigative department of Novorossiysk, Gelendzhik and the Crimean region started checking into the death of people due to flooding. "In each of the three divisions of the investigation began checking into the matter," - "Interfax" the press service of the SC RF IC for the Krasnodar Territory.

According to the latest victims of the elements were 67 people. "In the Crimean region found 42 bodies of the dead child is 10 years old," - said the head of the regional press service Igor Zhelyabin Research Affairs. The number of victims in Gelendzhik power was estimated at 7000 people. Morning, July 7 Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov has promised that all who have lost property due to flooding will be paid compensation - from 50 to 100 thousand rubles.

The Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev sent to the Krasnodar Territory Puchkov and Regional Development Minister Oleg talker.

http://www.mk.ru/incident/article/2012/07/07/723032-kolichestvo-zhe...

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Flooding in the Krasnodar region: 78 dead

In the Crimean region claimed 67 lives, the element

The number of flood victims in the Krasnodar region has increased to 78 people. In the Crimean region of the region according to the latest killing 67 people, nine people in Gelendzhik, and two in Novorossiysk.

On site management of the Russian Interior Ministry in Krasnodar Territory is a running list of the identified victims of the disaster. By eliminating the consequences of emergency in 1105 involved 216 police officers and vehicles. Head of the cupola Yuri Kuznetsov personally take part in the operation.

Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia in Krasnodar Territory, organized a hotline phone number for the trust-based CMC 8-861-268-64-40 Russian Emergencies Ministry in Krasnodar region. Since the victims psychologists.

In the area of Gelendzhik, despite the fact that the elements subsided, remain flooded about 1,000 Pridvorova territory, home to 2270 people. In the village of 925 Pridvorova Divnomorskoe flooded areas and 80 houses, inhabited by 2775 people. Limited movement of the track-Krasnodar Novorossiysk.

In Nizhnebakansky flooded 50 houses, inhabited by 220 people. In Neverdjayevskaya - about 80 houses with a population of 300 people. In Kabardinka in the flooded area were about 60 houses with a population of 210 people.

http://izvestia.ru/news/529672

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Krymsk Residents believe that the cause of flooding was the descent of water from the reservoir

        As told to Anna Kovalevskaya, whose parents are currently in the flood zone in the Crimean region of Krasnodar, citizens believe that because of the showers could occur this severe flooding.
        "It all happened at night. People just ran out of the house because there was a big wave of water, because no one warned. Two-story house was flooded up to the second floor. Water came very quickly. It was not rain. I do not know, is the official data or not but in saying that the reservoir was opened, which is located in the hills above the city. From there came a wave. in the city was sharply 7 m of water. Prior to that indeed there was a thunderstorm, but the water came so suddenly that for 15 minutes all flooded, " - she said.
        According to Kowalewski, in the Crimean no electricity, gas and water, and cellular communication works intermittently. Local residents are forced to cook on fires in the upper part of the city. Many citizens are afraid of looters and stay in their flooded homes and on rooftops.
        On the eve of the Krasnodar region, heavy rains began, which resulted in the Crimean, Gelendzhik, Novorossiysk, and several other towns hit by flooding. The region was declared a disaster mode. The number of flood victims has grown to 53 people.