KHABAROVSK, September 10 (RIA Novosti) - The Far Eastern Russian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur is facing further destruction as water level in the ongoing flooding of the nearby Amur River is expected to peak at up to 9.8 meters this week.
The flood waters have climbed to 8.95 meters as of Tuesday morning, gaining eight centimeters over the past 24 hours, local emergencies services reported.
“As a result of the flooding, 681 residential buildings housing some 7,700 people have been inundated,” the Khabarovsk Territory branch of the Russian Emergencies Ministry said in a statement.
“A total of 2,690 people including 753 children have been evacuated,” the statement said.
Overall, 74 towns and villages have been flooded across the Khabarovsk Territory and some 2,700 residential buildings have been inundated.
The current flooding in Russia’s Far East, which according to Russian meteorologists is the worst in the region in 120 years, has also affected the Amur and Magadan regions, the Jewish Autonomous Region, and the Primorye Territory, as well as in the Siberian republic of Yakutia.
