The ecological monitoring coordinator for Russia's Krymsk region, in which 171 people died last weekend in floods, has warned that a dam in the area has been damaged and is in danger of bursting if heavy rains fall in the area once again.
"The reservoir is full to the brim as it was before, and there is no possibility of letting water out, so if there is more rain, there will be serious danger," the ecological monitoring coordinator of the North Caucasus region said, after he inspected the dam at the confluence of the Bakanka river and the Chubukovsky stream.
No repair work has been carried out on the dam, and workers have only cleaned out the debris of trees and branches carried down to the dam by the previous flood,the ecologist claimed.
The dam is only four meters wide at its narrowest point at the top, and the ecologist warned if the dam is washed away, the village of Zhemchuzhny would be destroyed, leading to a catastrophe, and the consequences for the village of Nizhnebakanskaya would be even worse.
Over 7,000 homes were flooded on July 7 in three towns (Gelendzhik, Krymsk and Novorossiysk) and several villages in Krasnodar Territory. Widespread damage occurred in the region's power, gas and water distribution systems and road and rail systems. The local emergencies ministry said 171 people died, mainly in Krymsk.
