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Exercise in eliminating natural calamities aftermath begins in Kamchatka

The authorities and rescue services will then tackle the problems of ensuring protection of the population and rendering assistance to it
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, August 27 (Itar-Tass) – A large-scale exercise in the prevention and elimination of the aftermaths of emergency situations and natural calamities has begun the in the Kamchatka territory.

For the first time ever, a drill of this kind embraces the entire area occupied by the region known as Russia’s volcano land, a spokesman for the territorial Ministry for Specialized Programs and the Cossack Community told Itar-Tass.

The exercise that will continue through to September 27 is divided into two phases. Phase number one was kicked off Monday morning and it envisions a command staff drill in synchronizing the operations of local self-government agencies and rescue services.

The legend suggests a situation where a warning on a high probability of a powerful earthquake has been received in Kamchatka and all the forces and units of the regional subsystem for response to emergency situations are placed on high alert.

The authorities and rescue services will then tackle the problems of ensuring protection of the population and rendering assistance to it.

This phase will continue through to September 11 when the second phase is due to begin. It presupposes the deployment of mobile hospitals and camps for provisional accommodation.

The units participating in the exercise will concentrate on organizing meals and clothes for the population of calamity-stricken districts and on provision of emergency medical aid to them.

In the third phase, which is due to begin September 17, professional rescue workers will have a drill in the conditions of natural terrain. Emergency services will face the task of providing assistance to the population and cleaning up the consequences of disasters.

The ministry spokesman said a new system of public address to the population and alerting to the risks of emergency situations will be tested in the course of the exercise.

The forces engaged in the drill stand at almost 1,500 men, who have up to 400 units of technology at their disposal.

Special attention will be given to the regional capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and to the towns of Vilyuchinsk and Yelizovo, since they are home to the majority of people living in this vast but very sparsely populated part of Russia.

The organizers of the exercise promise however that not a single township or village will fall out of the scope of their attention and even the remotest villages will be embraced.

Upon the outcome of the exercise, the degree of readiness of all the rescue and emergency services in an extreme situation will be given.

The ministry spokesman underlined the character of the exercise, saying it was planned before and is not linked to whatever real danger of an amassed natural calamity.