The worst flooding in 120 years in Russia's Far East has already forced about 20,000 people from their homes and also made it necessary to airlift two captive brown bears to safety, the Emergency Situations Ministry said Monday.
Ministry spokeswoman Irina Rossius said the evacuations were underway in three regions along the Chinese border in the Far East, 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) east of Moscow, and some of those evacuated have moved into 166 emergency shelters. The flooding, set off by torrential rains, has already affected 140 towns and villages across the broad area, the ministry said.
The Amur River, which has reached a record high, is still rising and could flood Komsomolsk-on Amur, a major city in the Khabarovsk region, Frolov said.