Every victim of the flood in the Far East should receive assistance from the state. Today, Vladimir Putin reminded the governors that it's the heads' of the regions personal responsibility to not leave people to face their problems alone. The head of the state held a meeting in the Ministry of Emergency Situations Crisis Center. He highlighted the efficient work of rescuers, which helped avoid catastrophic consequences. He also criticized local officials for their callousness and formalism.
Andrey Grigoriev is reporting.
These screens broadcast everything that happened in the country in a day. Information about emergency situations from all available sources flows here in real-time. It's an emergency response center that has no rivals in the world. All the regions of Russia can be in touch simultaneously. But today, the Far East is in focus. It's late at night there, but the governors have an urgent video conference with the president to attend.
Vladimir Putin: "Until now, judging by the information we receive, the work to eliminate the consequences of the flood on both regional and local levels isn't always done in an urgent manner or corresponds to the gravity of problems that our citizens encounter. It concerns both the speed of housing inspection and taking an accountant of the victims. Accordingly, the assistance to the people haven't been organized properly, so we can't define the amount of federal assistance. Until now, we don't have information about these crucial points so that we can start organizing the work. We still don't have it. The requests are still coming through, but we don't have any documents that provide a rationale for these requests. How can we make decisions without documents? Why are you stalling? I'll remind you that it's the heads' of the regions and municipal boards responsibility to do this work".
This was filmed today. Restoration works are being done in all the flooded communities. In Komsomolsk-on-Amur, they are pumping water right from the streets. They needed divers to get the water back into the river. They cleared the sealed drains manually.
"We spent a month in captivity. Only now have I been able to take off my boots".
In Birobidzhan, disinfection is being done to prevent viruses from spreading. They are curing fences and houses with a special solution. The president reminds that, instead of just estimating the damage, they need to deal with each case separately.
Vladimir Putin: "A house was flooded and then the water was drained, the house seems to be in a habitable condition. But the heater was broken. With winter coming, how will the people heat the house? You need to think of it beforehand, and just help people. You need to supply them with the tools they need. Of course, it may require additional funding, but not that much. In any case, it needs to be done".
Now, almost all the people who live within the flood-affected area have returned to their houses. Rescuers help repair their houses, while the funding for compensation has been allocated from the federal budget.
Vladimir Putin: "You can't leave people to face their problems alone. Each and every victim of the flood is entitled to support. They're untitled to have been already informed of their rights and the payments they are eligible to receive. They are entitled to receive this money immediately, without any delay. They should know where to seek help. Now, unfortunately, it's not something that happens in all cases. People still encounter callousness and formalism. These are the worst features of our bureaucracy that are, unfortunately, very widespread. I'm asking you, my dear colleagues, to give your subordinates proper instructions, and to organize your work in a responsible, proper manner. As for the heads of the regions, I'm asking them to visit the affected regions personally, instead of ordering someone else to do it".
During the meeting, some of the cabinet ministers and Vladimir Putin were quick to name the agency to coordinate all the work.
Vladimir Putin: “In order for the work to be organized properly, it won't do for the heads of the regions to run around all the offices and corridors in the government. There must be an integrated center. And the Ministry of Construction will become such a center. The head of the ministry, Mr. Yakushev, will be the one responsible. I'll tell Mr. Medvedev to issue the corresponding order. But, for your information, and for all the colleagues to hear this, from now on, refer all of your concerns to him.”
The minister of construction draws everyone's attention to an omission in the law where there isn't any impediment to resuming construction in the affected areas.
Vladimir Yakushev, Minister of Construction: "The flood-affected areas haven't been established yet. They're not featured in the general plan. My colleague from Khabarovsk Kray and I discussed this topic today, as some houses in his region are located in the flood-affected area, where, since 2013, they weren't supposed to have been constructed in the first place".
Thanks to monitoring from space, among other things, they learned that the flood was coming beforehand. They had time to get prepared for it.
Evgeny Zinichev, Minister of Emergency Situation: "By constructing the protection embankment on-time we were able to minimize the damage from the flood in Khabarovsk Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The preventative measures we took allowed us to avert casualties and ensure the timely start of the academic year".
The agricultural industry suffered serious losses; nothing will grow on the fields after the flood.
"We're requesting your help in compensating the farmers' damages which total 370 million rubles ($5.7 million). Seventy-five percent of these farmers didn't buy insurance for their crops, because insurance companies refuse to render such services to them due to repeated floods in the past five years".
The Ministry of Agriculture is aware of this problem. It's shared by the entire Far East.
Vladimir Putin: As soon as the documents are provided, review them and report to me.
- Yes, sir.
The water level in the Amur is decreasing. It decreased by 9 centimeters (3.5 inches) just today. It means that the peak of the flood is over. All that is left to be done is to minimize its consequences.
Andrey Grigoriev, Natalia Lundovskaya, Ilya Baev, Stanislav Ponomarenko, and Valery Glushakov, Vesti.
