Up to 100,000 face evacuation in Russia's flood-hit far east

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - As many as 100,000 people may be evacuated from their homes near Russia's border with China if the region's biggest floods for 120 years get worse, Russian media reported on Saturday.

The floods, caused by a month of unusually heavy rain, are not expected to start receding until early September, the head of Russia's hydrometeorology monitoring service told news agency Ria Novosti.

Television footage showed residents rowing boats past half-submerged houses and military vehicles dumping gravel to counter the floodwater, which has already led to the evacuation of about 170,000 people from the Amur, Khabarovsk and Jewish Autonomous regions.

"The damage is extensive, but the most significant achievement is there have been no casualties ... we cannot relax, there is still a lot of work to be done," Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address.

Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/08/17/uk-russia-floods-idUKBRE97G03D20130817

[cliffordu]

1. Them fucking Ruskies, lying about climate change.....

[Igel]

2. Wow. A couple of hours and no queries about the Jewish Autonomous Region. n/t

[kestrel91316]

3. I'm assuming that is an OLD name that no one felt the need to change. I'm not going to

get my panties in a twist over it, though it certainly raised my eyebrow.