MOSCOW, June 9. /ITAR-TASS/. The threat of flooding remains in Barnaul, the Altai Territory.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry’s spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky told ITAR-TASS on Monday the Ob River rose 17 cm higher over the past day. Sixteen settlements in six municipal districts remained flooded.

Twenty medical teams arrived by an Ilyushin-76 plane to provide medical care for the population. A total of 200 tons of humanitarian aid cargoes were delivered to the region.

Regional authorities have estimated the damage at $40 million. The floods have damaged 19 electro-transmission line supports, 230 km of roads and destroyed 27 bridges. More than 2,500 people remain in the affected ares.

According to the Roshydromet federal meteorological service, up to 1,000 windstorms, hail, floods and typhoons are reported in Russia every year. More than 500 cities and towns and tens of thousands of villages a year face the flood threat.

Seven devastating floods occurred in Russia in the past 20 years with damage totaling $2.2 billion.