Heavy rains drench Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, six dead

The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in the Russian southern Krasnodar Region has climbed to six, two people are reported missing, while 13 are hospitalized with injuries.

The region spares no effort in restoring damaged infrastructure. People evacuated from flooded areas are provided with meals and daily necessities and are accommodated at temporary shelters and hotels. Passengers of delayed trains get to their destinations by plane and coach. In spite of a favorable forecast, problems might emerge in other areas of the Krasnodar Region.

Heavy rains caused flooding in about 30 towns and villages of the Krasnodar Region. Motorways and railways are damaged, while several bridges have been washed away by heavy rains. Railway communication is suspended.

Power and water supplies have been irregular in recent days. Floods cut off drinking water supplies to Tuapse, a resort city with the population of 60,000 people. More than 1,800 houses - where 5,300 people live - have been partially flooded.

New victims

Six people were reported dead on Friday, whereas earlier the death toll had been two in the Tuapse district. According to the regional emergencies minister Sergey Kapustin, four more bodies were recovered during search and rescue operations in the Aphseron district.

Two more people are listed missing. Among them is a man who was washed away by a torrent of water in the village of Tsypka, according to his friend. In Tuapse, a strong torrent pushed a 67-year-old woman into a gutter and she was carried away by the water.

The Investigative Committee opened criminal cases to look into the deaths.

The regional health ministry said that 39 adults and eleven children needed medical services. Of them, 13 were admitted to hospitals. Nine psychologists and medical teams are on duty in the emergency area. Ambulances are placed on alert round-the-clock. Locals are being vaccinated against intestinal infections.

Round-the-clock work

People, who had been earlier evacuated from their flooded villages, have started to return to their homes after water receded.

Emergency teams are carrying out repair works across the region. They are planning to resume power supplies to affected areas by Saturday night. In Tuapse, water and gas supplies have been already resumed. Sochi, where apartment houses and three hospitals were soaked with water, coped with the aftermath of the natural disaster. Works to resume road traffic in Sochi are in full swing, according to Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov.

A bridge over the Makopse River was damaged by floods, so road traffic from and towards Sochi was disrupted. Road workers are doing their best to rebuild the bridge. The authorities promise to open the highway by Saturday morning.

New threats

By Friday night, reports came that rising rivers might flood homes in the Belorechensk district of the Krasnodar region.

The regional emergency service has said that due to a dangerous level of water in the Pshish River in the Belorechensk district and floods moving down the river, the water is expected to be rising until late hours of October 27. The river might rise above dangerous levels in some areas of the Belorechensk district of the Krasnodar Region.

Besides, the Laba River might overtop its banks, according to Andrey Bondar, head of the Krasnodar regional center for hydrometeorology.

Weather forecasts say that rains will not stop slamming southeast areas in the Krasnodar Region until Sunday.