FLOOD DAMAGE HITS RUSSIA'S JAR AND ELSEWHERE IN FAR EAST

The far east of Russia is suffering its worst flooding in 120 years, reports Russia Today. Affected areas include the Amur and Magadan regions, the Jewish Autonomous Region (JAR), the Khabarovsk and Primorye territories, and the Siberian republic of Yakutia. Physical damage throughout the region is estimated at more than $1bn. The Amur River has been rising over the past week and more than 100,000 people in 185 towns have been affected, in a part of Russia that is sparsely populated. The Khabarovsk Territory has seen more than 1,000 buildings flooded. Nearly 300km of roads and 71 bridges have been destroyed, said that Ministry of Transport. Already about half the crops in the region are damaged, and this percentage is expected to rise. Russia's president Vladimir Putin, who visited the region at the weekend, has urged local officials to step up their response. He has appointed Yuri Trutnev as personal envoy to the far eastern region. However, the president was quick to state that the outgoing Viktor Ishayev was not to be blamed for anything. The JAR, set up by Stalin in the 1930s, has suffered some RUB3bn ($90m) in losses, according to the oblast's governor Alexander Vinnikov. He said that the floods were continuing and that sizable funds would be needed after damage suffered by farmers and to roads and social facilities. At the weekend some 25 towns or villages in the JAR had been evacuated. The federal government has so far allotted RUB3.2bn for relief to the entire region, or about 10% of the total estimated damage.