At least 4 dead in south Russia floods

Police on Wednesday found the bodies of four people who allegedly died because of floods in the Tuapse district of the Krasnodar region, the local interior ministry reported. Due to heavy rains the water level in the Nechepsukho River near the village of Novomikhailovskoye rose on Tuesday night. According to the Emergencies Ministry, six streets of the village were flooded, 600 homes were in the area of flooding, and 1,500 people were evacuated. Currently the water level has dropped and the situation has stabilized, Russian news agency (RIA Novosti) reported. “While checking of all the houses, four bodies were discovered. Their identities are being clarified,” the regional interior ministry said in a statement. Electricity in the village has been cut, though traffic on the federal highway has been resumed. Flood damage is being established. This time the warning system was on time. “The warning system worked, the water surged quickly within 15 minutes and then the water level dropped. People quickly left their homes,” the deputy head of the district administration said. This is not the first flood disaster in Southern Russia. In the beginning of July, flooding caused by heavy rains flooded thousands of homes in the city of Gelendzhik, Krymsk, Novorossiysk and a number of villages in the region. Flash floods devastated more than 7,000 homes in and around the town of Krymsk, killing 168 and leaving thousands homeless and in need of emergency supplies.