Russian President Vladimir Putin called the scale of natural disasters in a number of regions of Russia unprecedented.

“First of all, we will talk about wildfires in the Republic of Yakutia, as well as about the flooding of a number of settlements in the Crimea and Krasnodar Territory.

Of course, we see, we understand, and I will note this once again that the scale and nature of natural disasters in some areas is absolutely unprecedented.

Suffice it to say that, for example, in the south sometimes the monthly norm of precipitation falls in a few hours, and in Siberia, on the contrary, in the Far East - this is how natural, climatic, atmospheric conditions developed - forest fires in drought conditions, gusts of wind spread rapidly ", - stressed the Russian leader during a meeting on the elimination of the consequences of flooding and wildfires in a number of regions of Russia.

As the president specified, at present, the fire in Yakutia does not threaten residential and socially significant objects, but some fires are still located near settlements.

In this regard, the President of Russia asked the rescuers to "keep the situation under constant control and report on how it is developing."

Putin also instructed local authorities to send children, women and other residents from disaster zones to safety without delay if necessary.

“All urgent measures must be taken by federal agencies, regional and municipal authorities.

You need to act quickly and as efficiently as possible.

Of course, the main thing is to preserve people's lives and health, their property, ”the president said.

Weather anomalies

Let us remind you that Yakutia and Irkutsk Oblast, in particular, were in the natural disaster zone.

Forest fires are raging in these regions.

Local authorities have decided to introduce an interregional emergency regime.

This was stated during a briefing by the head of Yakutia Aisen Nikolaev.

"This makes it possible today for a freer maneuvering of the forces of the federal reserve and gives (to take. - 

RT

) more operational decisions in matters of federal funding for fighting forest fires," he said.

As the head of Rosleskhoz, Ivan Sovetnikov, clarified on the air of Channel One, this year in Yakutia alone, the area covered by fire is 7 million hectares.

According to him, this figure "sounds monstrous", but it is necessary to take into account a number of facts.

“Fact one - the entire forest area in Yakutia is 260 million hectares.

That is, this is approximately 2-3% of the total area ... On the other hand, this is the area covered by fire.

Most of it is a runaway fire, when the litter and shrubs burn out, but larch (this is the main breed for Yakutia) remains to live, ”he said.

The outbreak of forest fires in Yakutia and the Irkutsk region was commented on in a conversation with RT by the leading specialist of the Phobos weather center, Mikhail Leus.

According to him, hot and dry weather in these territories will remain until the end of this week.

“Therefore, firefighters and rescuers will have to fight the fire on their own for now.

The cyclone will exit to those areas where there are fires, and the appearance of rains is expected on Monday or Tuesday, ”he added.

A completely different, but no less difficult situation persists in the south of Russia.

According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, a cyclone continues to operate in the Kuban, which brought heavy rains, hail, increased winds up to 25 m / s, tornadoes and landslides.

“As a result of the passage of this cyclone, 1,344 private households, 1,683 adjoining territories in 19 settlements, one section of the regional road were flooded.

Targeted assistance is provided to the population.

Water is being pumped out, ”says the press release of the Main Directorate of the Russian Emergencies Ministry for the Krasnodar Territory.

Due to the blurring of the road due to heavy rainfall, transport links between Anapa and the city airport were interrupted.

The Krasnodar regional operational headquarters informed about this the night before.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations also reports that due to rain and strong winds, 108 thousand people were left without electricity in 11 settlements.

According to the department, due to bad weather, an emergency situation was introduced in 14 municipalities of the Krasnodar Territory.

Emergency recovery teams are working in the region, which are engaged in the elimination of the consequences of the disaster.

At the same time, the Ministry of Emergency Situations warns that the effect of the cyclone in the Kuban may last until the morning of August 16.

“In some places, a squally increase of wind up to 20-23 m / s, very heavy rain and heavy downpour is expected.

In the event of a thunderstorm on the Anapa-Gelendzhik section, wind gusts up to 25-28 m / s are possible, ”the department warns.

As for Crimea, where in June hundreds of houses were flooded due to heavy rains and an emergency regime was introduced, after the elimination of the consequences of the disaster, the republican rescuers carried out calculations of the zones of possible flooding in order to minimize the consequences of future disasters.

  • Heavy rains in the Kuban

  • RIA News

  • © Vitaly Timkiv

Currently, more than a thousand rescuers are working in the most vulnerable areas, about 300 pieces of equipment and two dozen watercraft are involved.

Specialists of the Ministry of Emergency Situations are erecting artificial barriers and temporary dams in the path of rainwater spills, as well as clearing storm sewers.

Emergency recovery work is carried out around the clock.

In particular, after the announcement of a storm warning in Kerch, 20 temporary posts were set up in places subject to the threat of flooding to eliminate its consequences.

According to the Hydrometeorological Center, unfavorable weather in the south of the European territory of Russia will continue until the beginning of next week.

The Research Center also predicts that in the period from 14 to 16 August in the South and North Caucasian Federal Districts there will be heavy rain, thunderstorms, hail, the wind speed can reach 15-20 m / s.

"Due to an active cyclone"

As Mikhail Leus noted, for the third day in the southern regions of Russia, abnormally heavy rains and other unfavorable natural phenomena have been observed.

“On the territory of the eastern half of the Crimean peninsula and the western part of the Kuban, in some places in two days with a little from three to five monthly norms of August precipitation, and in some settlements - more than nine.

In particular, this situation was observed in the city of Temryuk, Krasnodar Territory, "the expert said in an interview with RT.

As explained by Leus, inclement weather is observed in the south of Russia "because of an active cyclone" formed over the Black Sea, which, according to him, also affects the climatic situation in the republics of the North Caucasus.

“The reason for the activity of this cyclone was the unusually high temperature of the surface of the Black Sea water.

The rains in the region will continue today and Sunday.

And in some settlements, up to 100 mm of precipitation may fall.

One should hope for an improvement in the weather only by the beginning of a new week, ”he said.

As the head of the Situation Center of Roshydromet Yuri Varakin clarified in a commentary to RT, the Black Sea cyclone, although not so great, is powerful. 

“It is this cyclone, small in size, but extremely strong in terms of energy and heavy rainfall, that led to floods and destruction in the south of Russia. The peak of the disaster was in the region of Anapa, Kerch and the Kerch Strait. Now the cyclone is shifting from the Kuban and the Azov coast to the southeast of the Rostov region, which, in turn, will lead to heavy rains and a complex of unfavorable weather events in this area, ”the expert summed up.