Melting
snow causes spring floods across Altai
Residents
evacuated, roads cut off and homes under water as rivers rise and
dams threaten to burst.
By
Olga Gertcyk
25
April, 2015
An
emergency has been declared across parts of the Altai region after
major flooding caused by the spring thaw of snow. Residents have been
evacuated from some areas as rivers threaten to burst their banks,
with more than 250 residential buildings affected.
Authorities
have set up 34 temporary housing shelters for people forced to move
out, and at least 1,150 gardens and farming plots are under water. In
the town of Zarinsk, students from the state university are assisting
rescue workers while volunteers are being sought to help shore up a
dam on the brink of bursting.
Photographs
from the region show roads and fields flooded and homes under water.
By
yesterday afternoon 27 settlements across 16 municipal areas where
flooded by the melting snow. Zarinsk, which has a population of about
48,000 people, is among the worst affected residential area, with the
Chumysh River having swelled by 19cm over the past day.
By
8am local time on Monday 173 buildings and 306 gardens and farming
plots were under water and 166 people, including 27 children, were
evacuated. However it is thought the situation will worsen,
particularly if the dam breaks.
Melting snow causes spring floods across Altai Picture: AltaPress
Sergey
Ivanov, head of the emergency department at Zarinsk City council,
said: The work to reinforce the dam and Chumysh basin were carried
out but it didn’t allow to keep control of the situation because
the water is spreading massively. It was simply impossible to stop
it'.
A
council statement added: 'An evacuation of the residents of the
Lesokombinat district of Zarinsk has been launched, given the danger
of the dam bursting.
'Volunteers
are kindly requested to come and help to enforce the dam. Students of
Altai State University are arriving to the city to assist in the
recovery after the emergency situation in Zarinsk'.
The
local branch of the Emergencies Ministry said that almost 400 people
in 163 vehicles have been deployed to assist across the Altai region.
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