Heavy floods have killed at least six people in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region, state agencies reported Friday, citing local emergency officials.
Regional governor Veniamin Kondratiev announced a state of emergency starting on Thursday in the cities of Sochi, Apsheronsk and Tuapse following heavy rains on Oct. 24-25, Interfax reported.
“Until the heavy rainfall stops, it’s necessary to evacuate people,” Kondratiev was cited as saying by the regional administration's press service. “Unfortunately, the weather is disappointing. For the next two days a decrease in precipitation is not expected.”
Four dead bodies were found in Apsheronsk, where around 2,000 homes have been flooded, a regional emergency official was cited by the state-run TASS news agency as saying.
Tuapse, a town of 60,000 people, has been left without running water, TASS reported on Friday.
The floods also caused a highway bridge to collapse outside of Sochi.
Kondratiev on Thursday said that he had ordered the vice governor of the region, Igor Galas, to earmark 1 billion rubles ($15.2 million) for the victims of the flooding, the Interfax news agency reported.
“The elements will pass and people will need money,” he said.
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