It’s one of the country’s worst known recent natural disasters: 11 inches of rain were dumped on the Black Sea coast late Friday and early Saturday, equivalent to three months of rainfall in a normal year. Massive flash flooding ensued, with no warning from the authorities, and residents who managed to escape their engulfed homes were forced to abandon their property and seek makeshift refuge in higher areas. At least 200 people have lost their lives, and thousands more have lost homes, shops, and automobiles as they scramble to salvage what is left. See photos of the aftermath.
A local resident navigates a flooded house on July 8 as water levels remain startlingly in the town of Krymsk, about 750 miles south of Moscow.
Ignat Kozlov / AP Photo
More bodies are being discovered, and the death toll in the southern region of Krasnodar keeps rising. Those who managed to survive the flooding also have suffered tragic fates; many residents’ homes have been flooded, included the man pictured here.
Mikhail Mordasov, AFP / Getty Images
Floodwaters in the town of Krymsk have wiped out homes, shops, and entire communities. After nearly a foot of water of rain fell, many had little time to react and were forced to seek refuge in trees and on roofs. Here, a man attempts to remove garbage from a shop after the rain subsided.
Sergey Ponomarev / AP Photo
At least 1,179 people from the 803-year-old town of Kadom were forced to travel by boat after flooding in April.
Andrey Smirnov, AFP / Getty Images
Krymsk, where many lost their lives, remained flooded on July 8. Here, an aerial view of the town.
Mikhail Mordasov, AFP / Getty Images
One can only imagine to whom and what the woman in this photo is saying as she speaks on her cell phone after taking in the catastrophic damage to her home in the town of Nizhnebakansky.
Sergey Ponomarev / AP Photo
Survivors calculated the damage to their town, Nizhebakansky. Here, children survey a car that was submerged in mud on the bank of a river.
Sergey Ponomarev / AP Photo
Dealing with the aftermath of flooding in Krasnodar region, locals worked to clean up debris from a house on July 8.
Mikhail Mordasov, AFP / Getty Images
Known as a resort town, Gelendzhik will likely take a hit after the recent flooding. Residents here are forced to walk as they attempt to carry on with their daily routines.
Ignat Kozlov / AP Photo
President Vladimir Putin himself could not escape the torrential downpour—his portrait was placed on a heap of trash at a flooded home in Krymsk.
Ignat Kozlov / AP Photo
Family members of Marina Lysenko, who died in the flood, carry her coffin. Russian authorities failed to warn residents in the Black Sea region of the floods, and nearly 200 were killed.
Sergey Ponomarev / AP Photo
In wake of the flooding, a soldier digs a grave for the victims who lost their lives.
Sergey Ponomarev / AP Photo
