July 7, 2012

At least 150 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.

Up to 12,000 people have been affected by the disaster. A state of emergency has been declared in the cities of Krymsk, Novorossiysk, and Gelendzhik. In total 139 bodies have been recovered so far in Krymsk, nine 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.

Over 130 people are currently in hospital, including 14 children following the flood.

Six months' worth of rain in two days

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

The speed of the flood was shocking, carrying away not only homes, but 16-ton trucks as well. 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.

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.

Governor of the Krasnodar region Aleksandr Tkachyov surveyed the damage in the Gelendzhik and Krymsky districts from a helicopter 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, commenting on a picture of one of the main streets in the city where the flood hit hardest.

Emergencies Ministry rescue teams and helicopters have been dispatched to the scene in order to join the rescue and repair efforts already underway in the region. Over 10,000 rescue officers and 140 helicopters are currently working at the scene.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin as well as Emergency Minister Vladimir Puchkov and the Minister of Regional Development Oleg Govorun have visited the affected area.

Furthermore, Russia’s Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova arrived on Sunday in the Krasnodar region. She is assessing the full impact of the tragedy and the situation in the shelters housing evacuees from the flood zone.

The Russian Investigative Committee has launched a criminal probe into the tragedy on the grounds of negligence.

Krasnodar regional authorities have declared July 9 a day of mourning.

Children's summer camps evacuated

Authorities in the Perm region of Russia dispatched their own rescue team to evacuate dozens of children who were at local summer camps as the storms hit.

“The children have no contact with the Ministry of Emergencies or the local authorities in Gelendzhik. For two days now they have been without supplies and electricity,” said Viktor Basargin, Governor of the Perm Region on Saturday. “We have decided to take action on the issue of their evacuation.”

So far, 84 children have returned home. Some 114 more are said to be an area unaffected by the disaster, so the supervisors of their camp decided the kids could continue their holiday.

There is growing concern over the tourist population in the area. The land is popular with campers and tourists for its proximity to the Black Sea. This year alone 7,130 Russian children went camping in the surrounding territory, Russian Vice-premier Olga Golodetz announced in the wake of the disaster.

However, Governor Tkachyov emphasized that the all the camp grounds in the area appear to be safe: “Practically all the campgrounds are in normal condition, nothing is threatening the lives of the children.” The only campground that has suffered as a result of the flooding was the “Azure Shore” campsite, which was without power.

Tkachyov, nevertheless supported Basargin’s decision to evacuate the children.

Photos show the extent of the devastation caused by the flood waters, see more in

RT's photo gallery.

A local resident looks at a submerged car in a flooded street in the village of Novoukrainsk (REUTERS/Stringer)

An emergency service worker stands near an overturned car in the southern Russian town of Krymsk (REUTERS/Stringer Russia)

А stranded car on a flooded street of the city of Krymsk (AFP Photo / Russia's Interior ministry)

Flooded street of the city of Krymsk (AFP Photo / Russia's Interior ministry)

Victims of the floods have a rest in a bus in Krymsk (AFP Photo / Mikhail Mordasov)

Victims of the flood talk together near a temporary shelter in Krymsk (AFP Photo / Mikhail Mordasov)

Victims of the flood rest in a temporary shelter in Krymsk (AFP Photo / Mikhail Mordasov)

Krymsky district (photo from Aleksandr Tkachyov's twitter @antkachev)

Gelendzhik after the flooding (photo from Aleksandr Tkachyov's twitter @antkachev)

Gelendzhik's main street (photo from Aleksandr Tkachyov's twitter @antkachev)

Gelendzhik's embankment (photo from Aleksandr Tkachyov's twitter @antkachev)

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Situation in Krymsk (photo from Maria Dzyuba's Vkontakte page http://vk.com/mashkabelka13)

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Situation in Krymsk (photo from Margarita Khmelevskaya's Vkontakte page http://vk.com/id136218286)

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Situation in Krymsk (photo from Yana Gagarina's Vkontakte page http://vk.com/id33333485)

Beach in Gelendzhik (photo from Aleksandr Tkachyov's twitter @antkachev)