Emergency Minister Reports to President on Flood Situation

Russian Emergency Minister Sergei Shoigu has reported to President Vladimir Putin on the flood situation in the country.

"For the coming week the ministry has no fears concerning floods," he said. At the same time, the situation in the north-west of the country, especially in the Vologda and Arkhangelsk regions, is serious. In southern regions the flood has not inflicted any serious damage. A total of 4,000 houses have been flooded, but a majority of them are situated in sparsely populated areas.

The Emergency Ministry has taken serious measures to reinforce bridges and build by-pass channels. It has also reinforced dams that were flooded last year in Adygeya, the Stavropol and Krasnodar territories /South of Russia/. On the whole the Ministry has involved about 270 thousand people and over 200 units of aircraft to fight the flood.

The snow level in the north-west is 2-2.5 times higher this year as compared to the previous one, the minister pointed out. This year, ice-cutting machines are working 24 hours a day at all jam-dangerous places on the rivers, passing the average of 35-40 km daily.