Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Russian flood victims pick through damage

Terra Daily via AFP: Residents of a flood-devastated Russian region on Tuesday picked through damaged homes and collected donated clothing amid ongoing criticism of the way officials handled the disaster.

In the worst affected town of Krymsk, the lack of sanitation and high temperatures provoked fears of a disease epidemic, and officials sought to allay the concerns.

Russia's chief sanitary doctor, Gennady Onishchenko, insisted that the infection level in Krymsk was "stable" after tabloid website Lifenews reported that 50 people had been hospitalised in an infections ward.

He called the reports of mass infections "an irresponsible lie," speaking to the RIA Novosti news agency.

The authorities of the affected Krasnodar region slightly raised the death toll, saying on their website that "according to the latest official information, the number of those who suffered from the flooding has reached 30,000 and 172 people have died."...

From NASA, a satellite image of Russia's Krasnodar region along the northeast coast of the Black Sea, taken July 6, 2012.

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