Flooding in the Tuapse district of the southern Krasnodar region killed at least 13 people, with nine reported missing, the local branch of the Emergency Situations Ministry said Sunday.
Heavy rain in the mountainous area caused rivers to overflow Saturday, flooding 24 villages with up to 1,000 homes, Interfax said.
Initial reports said 11 were killed and three missing, but the death toll was raised Sunday afternoon, an Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman said, adding that 10 victims were identified so far. Six people were hospitalized with hypothermia.
The rains had subsided by Saturday in the mainly agricultural region, 1,500 kilometers south of Moscow, but another storm warning was issued late Sunday in both Krasnodar and the republic of Adygeya, RIA-Novosti reported.
Local authorities have evacuated 280 people from the area, the ministry said on its web site.
Four bridges in the Tuapse district were washed away, and three others were damaged by the floodwaters, which also disrupted power lines, leaving about 4,000 people without electricity, Interfax said.
President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the Regional Development Ministry to estimate the scope of the disaster and provide aid to the victims, his spokeswoman Natalya Timakova told RIA-Novosti.
No amount of compensation was specified Sunday, but Interfax said more than 50 commissions from various levels of the government were examining damage in the region. Local authorities pledged to finance funerals for the dead.
(MT, Reuters)
