Flash floods deluged Russia's southern Krasnodar, killing at least 134 people in the region's worst natural disaster in decades, officials and witnesses said Saturday.
President Vladimir Putin inspected the damage by helicopter and held a brief meeting with local officials in Krymsk amid recriminations from residents who accused the authorities of abandoning them.
Television footage showed torrents of brown flood water gushing along streets in the worst-hit town of Krymsk past blanket-covered bodies.
Residents were caught by surprise by the sheer force of the waters, which ripped up pavements and traffic lights and flooded buildings.
In Krymsk, some people woke in the middle of the night to find water pouring in, trapping them in their homes. One woman had to spend the night up a tree before being rescued.
Authorities estimated that up to 13,000 people had been affected in the Krymsk district.
"Our house was flooded to the ceiling, we could not open the door because of the water, so we broke the window to climb out," Krymsk pensioner Lidiya Polinina told AFP by telephone.
"I put my five-year-old grandson on the roof of our submerged car, and then we somehow climbed up into the attic. I don't know how we managed to survive,"
she said, adding that they had received no warning or assistance.
"It was like a tsunami!" Putin commented as he was told about the flood by local officials, promising to rebuild the ruined properties.
State television footage showed him speaking with emergency ministry officials, who assured him the flood was not caused by problems at a nearby dam, as alleged by locals.
Officials said at least 123 of the bodies had been recovered in the Krymsk area, including a 10-year-old child, but were unable to explain the scale of the toll there, saying the floods were caused by torrential rains.
Polinina said her elderly neighbor had died after becoming trapped by the flood waters.
"She was paralyzed. She couldn't get out of the house," she told AFP.
"Everything has been destroyed," she added. "We need help pumping water out of the house, we have no drinking water."
The town, which has a population of 57,000, lies about 200 kilometers northwest of the Black Sea resort town of Sochi where Russia is hosting the Summer Olympic Games in 2014.
Krymsk was still without power on Saturday. Water marks indicated that the water rose as high as seven meters.
Officials said the disaster struck as residents slept after the level of the local Bakanka river rose overnight Friday to Saturday.
"Everything happened at night and very quickly," the regional administration said in a statement.
The Russian Internet was meanwhile abuzz with speculation that the flooding was a man-made catastrophe resulting from the opening of a sluice gate at a mountain reservoir. Authorities denied the reports.
A regional environmental group Environmental Watch on North Caucasus said the level of damage on the ground indicated that the rush of water originated at the dam on the local Naberdzhai river, but could not provide details.
Krasnodar region governor Alexander Tkachev called the theory "nonsensical"
and appealed to his Twitter audience to stop spreading "stupid" rumors.
"Some opponents, the opposition, are trying to tell some tales," Tkachev complained to Putin at the meeting in Krymsk, assuring that the dam "is functioning normally."
A Krymsk resident who gave her name as Tatyana told AFP by telephone the disaster struck unexpectedly.
"The water rose very quickly.... It flooded people's ground floors in five to 10 minutes, ripped out pavement kerbs and even pieces of asphalt," she said.
Locals had received no warning from the emergency services, she added.
The resort town of Gelendzhik received five months' worth of rain in 24 hours, the regional administration said.
Russian Railways said it had to suspend train traffic due to "difficult weather conditions" in the area, delaying dozens of trains.
Novorossiisk saw two months' worth of rain in 24 hours.
A team had worked through the night to bring the situation under control at the port, port spokesman Mikhail Sidorov said.
The floods had affected the port's operations and pipeline operator Transneft had informed management that it would halt shipments of crude oil, he added.
Krasnodar regional police said they went on high alert at nightfall to "patrol the streets and protect people's property from looters". (AFP)
<관련 한글 기사>
홍수로 주말동안 수백여명 사상
러시아 남서부 134명 사망
주말 동안 세계 곳곳에서 물난리로 인한 사상자가 속출했다.
러시아 남서부 크라스노다르 주 일대에선 폭풍우로 홍수와 산사태가 발생해 최소 134명이 사망한 것으로 파악됐다.
당국에 따르면 이 지역에는 6일밤 불과 수 시간만에 월평균 강우량의 두 배에 해 당하는 폭우가 쏟아져 시가지가 침수되고 산사태가 일어났다.
크림스크 지역에서 10세 아동을 포함해 123구의 시신이 발견됐다.
흑해 인근의 휴양도시인 겔렌지크에선 9명이, 흑해 주요 항구인 노보로시스크 일대에선 2명이 숨졌다.
또 번개가 전기변압기를 내리치면서 감전사한 주민이 최소 5명인 것으로 파악됐다.
이번 폭우로 1천여 가구가 침수됐으며 전기가 끊겨 2만2천여 명이 불편을 겪었다.
이 지역을 지나는 철로와 도로는 쓸려 내려가거나 진흙이 쌓여 운행이 중단된 상태다.
노보로시스크에서는 교통이 마비되고 원유 선적 작업이 중단됐다고 국영 송유관 회사 트란스네프트 대변인이 밝혔다.
블라디미르 푸틴 러시아 대통령은 조만간 피해 지역을 직접 방문할 계획이다.
해마다 우기(몬순)에 홍수 피해를 보는 인도의 북동부 아삼주에서는 지난달 중순부터 계속된 폭우로 최소 121명이 목숨을 잃은 것으로 집계됐다.
이번 강우로 아삼주의 브라마푸트라강이 범람한 가운데 105명이 물에 빠져 숨지 고 16명이 산사태로 목숨을 잃었다고 현지 당국은 밝혔다.
또 주민들이 고지대로 이동하기 위해 거처를 떠나면서 약 600만 명의 이재민이 발생한 것으로 파악됐다.
독일에서는 6일밤부터 7일아침까지 전국 각지에서 거센 폭풍우가 발생해 3명이 사망하고 최소 20명이 다쳤다.
영국 북동부 지역에서도 24시간 만에 한달 동안 내릴 비가 쏟아지면서 집들이 침수되고 교통 차질이 빚어졌다.
폭우 속에서 차량을 운전하던 20대 남성이 목숨을 잃기도 했다.
