"Minprirody": construction of buildings in flood-dangerous territories led to serious consequences in Kuban

According to the "Rosprirodnadzor" (Russian Federal Agency for Supervising the Nature), one of the reasons for such severe consequences of the flooding in the Krasnodar Territory was construction of building in flood-dangerous territories. This was stated by the press service of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology (known as "Minprirody").

"Waterworks of Neberdjai water reservoirs do not allow mass discharging of water from it"

On July 8 and 9, activists of the organization "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" held the public inspection of the Neberdjai water reservoir, the discharge of water from which, according to the preliminary information, could cause flooding in the Krymsk District.

On July 8, Suren Gazaryan and Evgeny Vitishko, the activists of the Board of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus", visited the water reservoir independently of each other. On July 9, one more inspection of the water reservoir was conducted by Evgeny Vitishko and Andrei Rudomakha.

"As a result of the inspection, the preliminary information that the disaster in the Krymsk District might be caused by the discharge of water from the water reservoir, has not been confirmed. The dam of the water reservoir is not destroyed and, as far as we could make such a conclusion from the visual inspection of the waterworks of the water reservoir, they really do not allow any mass discharge from it," states the report of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus".

The report of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" emphasizes that the Neberdjai water reservoir is in working condition. It managed to fulfil its task to damp the water flow. There had been no overflows, and the technical services of the municipal unit of Novorossiysk, to which to the operating organization "Yugvodokanal" belongs, done everything properly.

Oleg Mitvol: undue discharge of water from Varnavinskoye water reservoir could lead to formation of wave

However, Oleg Mitvol, ex-Deputy Chief of the "Rosprirodnadzor" and ex-Prefect of the Northern Administrative District of Moscow, expressed his version of that no discharge of water had been committed from the Neberdjai water reservoir, and, on the contrary, that fact saved human lives. And undue discharge of water from the Varnavinskoye water reservoir, located at a distance of 10 kilometres to north-west of the city of Krymsk, led to formation of wave, which flooded the city.

"Director of the Varnavinskoye water reservoir had to coordinate with the Kuban BWA (Basin Water Administration) the sharp discharge of water level to clear space in the reservoir to take water to prevent it going down. That did not happen," Oleg Mitvol has stressed.

"Statements on discharge of water from the larger Varnavinskoye water reservoir, located in the vicinities of the city, are beneath any criticism. Height of the discharge sluices of the Varnavinskoye water comprises 3 meters above sea level. Height of most low-lying areas of Krymsk is 11 meters above sea level. Height of the city centre is about 24 meters, and the highest part of the city is about 60 meters," states Vladimir Krylov on his webpage on "VKontakte".

"The only problem is that the Varnavinskoye water reservoir is fed by the Adagum River, which flows through the city of Krymsk. Do you understand? The Varnavinskoye water reservoir is located downstream of the Adagum River than the city of Krymsk; therefore, discharge of water from the Varnavinskoye water reservoir cannot cause a flooding in the city. On the contrary, by opening the sluices, you could only improve the situation," parusodinoky writes in his "Live Journal".

According to him, "a meteorological disaster is much easier to be predicted than an earthquake. Had a storm warning been received in due time, had the services of the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) started alert, even air alert, just after the start of the rainfall, the death toll would have been much lower."

Alexander Frolov: during day, about third of annual rains fallen

"During one day, in Gelendzhik, Novorossiysk, and on the ridges that surround the Krymsk District, up to 300 and even 304 millimetres of rains fell during one day, at an annual rate of 800-850 millimetres. That is, one third of the annual rate fell during one day. 5 hours 15 minutes prior, in the south-west district, where the city of Krymsk is located, all alerts of the 'Rosgydromet' (Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring) were brought to relevant authorities, and, as we know, alert was made," said on July 9 Alexander Frolov, Chief of the Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, at the meeting on flood relief in the Krasnodar Territory with the participation of the Russian President.

According to him, preliminary calculations show and experts state that two flows were imposed on the two rivers, and an orographic narrowing took place and that was the first reason of the flooding.

"The second reason is that there are a number of slopes nearby that surround the city, and slope flow was quite strong under conditions of such rainfall. Soil has been moistened by prior rains, and, for some time, it was able to absorb rain water that fell; however, then, a film formed, and the soil was not able to absorb water any longer, and the water flowed down the slope. Therefore, two processes were superimposed simultaneously: the river, the flooding, and the flows from the aside slopes," the website of the Russian President quotes Alexander Frolov as saying.