Rescue helicopters rush to Black Sea as storms kill dozens
More than 100 are dead and thousands fleeing storms and landslides in southern Russia. Tourists and locals are feared dead in the Black Sea resort area where the 2014 Olympics will be held.
An average two-months’ rain fell in a few hours in the region close to where Russia will host the 2014 Winter Olympics. Television footage showed people scrambling onto rooftops. Currents swept away houses and trucks. Russian broadcaster RT said more than 100 were dead by early evening on Saturday with the death toll likely to rise.
“Brick fences are washed away,” resident Vladimir Anosov said. “Helicopters are flying overhead, they are evacuating people from the flooded areas.”
Entire city streets disappeared. Five people were electrocuted when a transformer fell into the water and a nine-year-old girl was swept from her mother’s arms by the current, RT reported.
Eyewitnesses said they were struck by a seven-metre wave in the middle of the night, carrying away homes and trucks. Moscow sent emergency helicopters and rescue teams.
Governor Aleksandr Tkachyov surveyed the damage by helicopter and sent updates via Twitter and sending a photo (right). “It is spectacular, to be sure, and very tragic. The water came with such force that it tore up the asphalt,” the governor wrote.
Crude oil shipments halted
Novorossiisk, Russia’s largest Black Sea port, halted crude oil shipments and suspended grain exports, oil pipeline operator Transneft said.
“The region’s transportation is in a state of collapse,” Transneft spokesman Igor Dyomin said.
Police put the death toll in Krymsk at about 70 and said others were killed in Novorossiisk and the coastal town of Gelendzhik. Officers were increasing their presence to prevent mass looting while the governor of the Krasnodar region, urged local residents not to panic.
Rail lines flooded
The State Hydrometeorology Agency said more rain was possible on Saturday and Sunday.
Russian Railways suspended all trains heading to and from Novorossiisk where the water has risen half a metre above the rails.
The Novorossiisk port, which handles grains and metals as well as crude oil, said the outlet had cut shipping volumes.
“We are not loading grains due to rainy weather,” Mikhail Sidorov said. “The port is located in the lower part of town, the whole landslide has moved towards it. As we speak, the rain has started again.”