“It will be impossible to get them out of there when the frozen mud breaks into their homes,” Raivis Ragainis, mayor of the city of Jekabpils, said on the radio. The cities of Jēkabpils and Pļavinas and nearby areas were especially vulnerable, where the waters of the Daugava were flooded. still dammed up by a block of ice, which the waters dragged from Belarus.
Latvia hit by worst flood in decades https://t.co/7bs9wHMvjk
— Le Monde in English (@LeMonde_EN) January 15, 2023
“Ice fragments and icy water flooded our city quickly,” Jekabpils resident Maris Kodols told AFP. “These are the worst floods since 1981,” he added.
“These are the worst floods since 1981,” he said, adding that the current water level is only two inches (5 centimeters) below that year’s record level.
The new dam was built 10 years ago as a precaution, but on Saturday it began to crumble under the pressure of the ice.
Several bulldozers were deployed to reinforce the dam with fresh stacks of sandbags on Sunday.
“The dam has been preserved as we are constantly reinforcing it, but the situation remains tense,” Mayor Ragainis said.
“There is no guarantee that it will withstand extreme conditions.he added.
Rescuers deployed amphibious tanks, a kind of amphibian, to evacuate the residents, although most of them still preferred to stay where they were.
“Thank God, no one has drowned or been injured so far,” Army Captain Aleksandrs Cviguns, head of the military rescue operation, told AFP.
“Today our float tank visited five remote farms, evacuating people and delivering food and supplies to those who were left behind.”, he added.
Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins and President Egils Levits organized a crisis management meeting in Riga.
Source: La Opinion
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