Authorities in Far East Russia’s Zabaikalsky region declared a state of emergency on Thursday following a summer of torrential rainfall and three consecutive flood waves.
Governor Alexander Osipov said Friday that the emergency declaration was needed in order to speed up financial aid to residents impacted by the flooding and repairs to damaged infrastructure.
Rainfall across the region — located along the Chinese border roughly 4,700 kilometers (2,900 miles) east of Moscow — reached up to 250% of seasonal averages this summer. Emergency officials issued five separate storm warnings as three distinct flood waves battered nine municipal districts.
“It’s been a tough summer,” Osipov wrote in a post on Telegram. He said there had been no reports of injuries or deaths as a result of the flooding.
While Osipov confirmed that no active floodwaters remained inside homes by Friday, he noted that 95 residential properties sustained damage from intense rainfall. By comparison, major floods in 2018 and 2021 submerged more than 1,000 homes in the region, he said.
