Russian flood-hit town gets new apartments

The Russian Defense Ministry has pledged to give the flood-stricken city of Krymsk 500 new apartments, defense officials said after visiting the city. "At the request of the governor of the region we will give 500 newly constructed apartments for the military to the people affected by floods in Krymsk," Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said. Krymsk residents will be able to move into the apartments, which will be positioned in a new district within the city, in two weeks, ITAR-Tass reported Friday. Alexander Tkachev, the governor of the Krasnodar Territory, thanked the minister for this decision. "This is a major tragedy. More than 1,500 homes have been destroyed. Nine-thousand homes are in need of capital repair. Without outside help, in this case without the army, it would be very difficult for us. We would still cope on our own, but we are running out of time," said Tkachev. Krymsk was one of three cities hit by floods July 7 that killed 171 people and flooded 7,000 homes. Most of the deaths and property damage from the floods occurred in Krymsk. Utility lines, roads and railways were also severely damaged.