MOSCOW, June 24. /ITAR-TASS/. More than 36,000 victims of massive floods in southern Siberia have received financial assistance from the federal budget, Emergencies Ministry spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky said on Tuesday, adding that 3.7 billion rubles ($106.7 million) had been allocated from the federal budget.
One-time financial assistance had been provided to around 36,000 victims, he said. These comprised some 34,000 people in the republic of Altai and the wider territory of the same name, and more than 2,000 in Khakassia. Flood victims have also received compensation from the government’s fund for property losses.
“Around 4,000 people have been paid compensation of 50,000 rubles ($1,431) for partial loss of property, and 3,000 have received 100,000 rubles ($2,863) for total loss," the spokesman said.
Russian Emergencies Ministry chief military expert Eduard Chizhikov, leading a team of Russian rescuers to Siberia, told journalists that around 70,000 people had been affected by the devastation.
“Some 20,000 houses in 46 districts, housing more than 70,000 people, have been hit by the flooding. Some 41,000 have been evacuated,” the expert said on his return from Altai.
Devastation was wreaked by excessive rainfall when a month's precipitation was registered between May 27 and May 31. Conditions had stabilized in all regions except Altai, where settlements accommodating around 230 people remained partially flooded, Drobyshevsky said.