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Half of Srednekolymsk town in Yakutia flooded

Out of the town's 3,500 inhabitants, about 1,000 people have been evacuated from underflooded houses
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

VLADIVOSTOK, May 21 (Itar-Tass) — An emergency situation regime has been declared in Srednekolymsk District by a decree issued by the president of Yakutia in view of floods that inundated a half of the town of Srednekolymsk on Monday, the press service of the government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) reports.

The town did not experience such a powerful flood for decades. Last time, such floods hit the area in 1942, town mayor Yuri Yudin said. Thetown has 110 communal two-storey houses with eight flats each and about 800 individually built ones. Accordingto the town mayor, from 300 to 500 houses have been flooded. "In most of them water level is up to windows and in some other ones water level is up to the ceiling," Yudin told Itar-Tass by telephone.

Out of the town's 3,500 inhabitants, about 1,000 people have been evacuated from underflooded houses. Most of them moved to their relatives and acquaintances who live on high ground. Approximately 150 people have been accommodated at three evacuation centers, Srednekolymsk mayor Yuri Yudin told Itar-Tass by telephone.

Floods have inundated 280 houses, an oil storage facility, airport, housing and communal facilities; a power station there is surrounded with water from all sides. It will have to be de-energized if water level rises by another half a metre. There is a 150 cm layer of water above the airport's runway. This verified picture of the natural calamity has been conveyed by Yuri Yudin.

He said the situation in the town is deteriorating. Water begins to approach high ground. The town is being flooded by Kolyma River. Its water level has risent by more than 13 metres. The situation has been prompted by a huge, five-kilometre-long. ice-gorge that developed in the lower reaches of the river. Seven blasts were set off there but to no avail.