YAKUTSK, March 9. /TASS/. The overall damage from floods in Yakutia between 1998 and 2022 makes 46.8 billion rubles ($616 million), Nikita Tananayev, a leading expert of the climate studies laboratory at the North Eastern Federal University, and a leading expert at the Melnikov Permafrost Institute (the Russian Academy of Sciences' Siberian Branch), told TASS.
A group of scientists has completed the first stage of studies to analyze the structure of hydrology risks in Yakutia and to offer measures to control them. Yakutia's 123 settlements have formally registered flood zones, where 61% of the region's population live.
"We estimate the flood damage in Yakutia at 46.8 billion rubles (in 2022 prices) between 1998 and 2022. The main part of this amount is the damage from floods in the middle Lena River and in central Yakutia that occurred in 1998 and 2001. This damage amounted respectively to 2.8% and 7% of the annual gross regional product," the expert said, adding the scientists had used deflator indexes quoted by Russia's Ministry of Economic Development.
Damage estimation
Over the past two decades, several major floods occurred in Yakutia. The biggest damage over the recent decade was recorded in 2013, when the region declared a federal emergency regime due to the spring flood on the Lena River. Back then, 55 settlements were flooded, 6,228 people were injured. In the same year, there was a major rain flood in the Verkhoyansk area, where the total amount of damage at 2013 prices amounted to 3.38 billion rubles ($45 million).
In 2018, in a significant spring flood in the Amginsk and Ust-May districts, Yakutia declared a federal emergency situation. In that flooding, 63 settlements and 5,333 people were affected. The damage amounted to 1.58 billion rubles ($21 million).
"A major flood on the Amga River in 2018 caused direct damage, that officially was estimated at 1.5 billion rubles (in actual costs) ($21 million). The assessment <…> in previous studies, indicates a much greater damage - more than 5 billion rubles ($66 million), thus pointing to a difference between officially regulated and actual costs," said the scientist, who manages a project on hydrology risks in Russia's North-East.
Floods in 2022
In spring, 2022, the Lena River waters flooded 19 settlements in Yakutia's six districts and the city of Yakutsk. The damage reached 107.9 million rubles ($1.4 million). Later on, in July, after heavy rains, waters of the Yana River and small rivers flooded eleven settlements in the Verkhoyansk and Kobyai districts.
"The direct damage from the summer flood, 2022, in the Verkhoyansk and Kobyai districts was 374.1 million rubles ($4.9 million), including 62.4 million rubles ($820,000) for emergency rescue works, 277.6 million rubles($3.6 million) for emergency recovery works, and for one-time material support and financial assistance to the local residents - 34.1 million rubles ($448,000). The housing sector, social facilities and intra-village roads suffered the most from the natural disaster," the expert said.
The losses from the 2022 rain flood in the Verkhoyansk district turned out to be less significant due to the early warning about the threat. "The population had time to move property, including cattle, to a non-flooded area. Evacuation routes were determined in advance," he continued.
Floods' indirect damage includes the formation of mold and fungus in foundations and on the floors above them in almost all buildings, since water had remained in the basements and on the first floors for quite a time (for more than 10 days), he said.
"This may cause lung diseases in the future. Due to the long rains and flooding, the local farm could not harvest enough hay, and its cost jumped significantly," he added, noting the vegetable harvest in the area had decreased dramatically.
About floods in the Russian Federation
Floods take the top position among the world's natural disasters in terms of caused damage. In Russia, the Ministry of Natural Resources says, the total average annual flood damage in seven major water basins exceeds 120 billion rubles (in 2020 prices) ($1.6 billion).
TASS reported earlier that the Federal Agency for Water Resources (Rosvodresursy) would allocate 1.2 billion rubles ($16 million) in 2023 to control seasonal floods. The authority has sent over 85 million rubles (1.1 million) to the regions where the risk of congestion on rivers is high. Those are the Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Perm, Nenets, Yamalo-Nenets, and Yakutia Regions. On more than 120 km of riverbeds the capacity was increased during works, which were carried out in 2022. These works will continue in 2023 on another 150 km of riverbeds, where investments will make 1.1 billion rubles ($14 million).