About 13,500 people have been evacuated in Russia's Far East after strong rains caused massive floods, dpa cited the government in Moscow as saying Thursday. The peak of the floods was still ahead in the worst-hit Amur region, along the border with China, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said on its website. Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov was among several cabinet ministers who followed orders by President Vladimir Putin and flew to the region, located some 6,000 kilometres east of Moscow. Some 4,000 houses and almost 100 settlements have been flooded so far, according to Russian media reports. The situation was further complicated after authorities announced that a hydroelectric power plant would have to release more water after its reservoir reached dangerous levels. A decision about increasing the outflow of the Zeya Dam, north of the Chinese border, by a third could be made Friday, the Interfax news agency reported.
