Floods in Southern Russia take toll of 68 people's lives

Sixty-eight people have died in floods in the south of Russia. According to the Russian Emergencies Ministry's press service, 38 people perished in the Stavropol Territory, 10 in the Karachai-Circassian Republic, 16 in the Krasnodar Territory, 3 in the Republic of North Ossetia and 1 in the Kabardin-Balkar Republic.

The press service of the Emergencies Ministry with reference to deputy head of the ministry Yuri Brazhnikov reported that a number of countries had offered humanitarian assistance to Russian regions suffering from the catastrophic flood. The United States, Ukraine, Slovakia are among those who offered help. The Emergencies Ministry pointed out that the matter would be considered at a meeting of the state commission on humanitarian aid on July 2.

Apart from that, the UN Disaster and Assessment Coordination group (UNDAC) suggested that it should assess the aftermath of the natural calamity in the flooded regions to determine the humanitarian aid requirements.

The flood affected 236 settlements in 60 regions. 199,000 people suffered losses of various degree, almost 86,000 people were evacuated. More than 44,000 houses were flooded, 3,157 out of them were totally destroyed and 3,197 damaged. 118 km of gas pipelines, 233 bridges (186 highway, 4 railroad and 43 pedestrian bridges) were damaged as were 945.5 km of highways, 519 km of electric power lines, 39 km of water supply pipes, 6 km of railroads, 7 water intake stations. Water supply is cut off in 110 settlements.