Epidemiologists fly to flood-stricken settlement in Kamchatka to assess situation

Epidemiologists from the Russian consumer rights watchdog flied to the flood-stricken rural settlement of Sobolevo in Kamchatka, Russia’s Far East, from the Far Eastern city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. They will assess the epidemiological situation and the quality of drinking water in the settlement, the press service of the Kamchatka government told Itar-Tass on Saturday. The situation in the settlement is stabilizing, minister of special programmes and Cossack affairs of the territory Sergei Khabarov said. Over the past day the water level on Bolshaya Vorovskaya River dropped by 38 centimetres. The water has retreated from the flooded houses, but 62 households remain flooded. If the quality of drinking water in the settlement is found to meet sanitary requirements, already on Monday social facilities will resume working there. A school and a kindergarten should resume working in next few days. The Sobolevo district authorities “are just starting to calculate the damage,” Khabarov said. They face the task to reconstruct the damaged infrastructure as quickly as possible. “We will deliver all urgent supplies to the flood-hit villages by helicopters. The governor gave an instruction to the district authorities and territorial ministries to put the situation over emergency works under special control,” the Kamchatka minister said. On Monday, heat guns will be delivered in the flood-stricken district to make the houses dry and special disinfectants to process the mostly affected facilities. The peak of the flood in the Sobolevo district passed on September 20, the territorial government reported. The water level in Bolshaya Vorovskaya River had been above the critical level by 50 centimetres just for five hours. More than 100 residential houses, where more than 400 people live, as well as social facilities happened to be in the flood area. The only road to the Sobolevo district along the Sobolevo-Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky gas pipeline was closed over the flood. The restoration of washed out bridges and the road will take no less than ten days. The number of flights in Sobolevo is increased for this period of time. The emergency of municipal level is in effect in the district.