Ukraine parliament examines floods after 30 dead

by Amy Judd | July 31, 2008 at 09:51 am

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The Ukrainian parliament is now examining the damage that the flooding has caused to their country, after 30 people have died and 18,000 have been evacuated. It rained for five days and caused the rivers to spill over into villages and farmland.

Emergencies Minister Volodymyr Shandra announced the death toll in a parliamentary debate convened to discuss compensation and changes to the budget. Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko told the chamber 18,000 residents had fled their homes. Figures earlier this week said 22 had died, including six children and two people struck by lightning. A senior minister described the flooding as the worst in a century, with the Prut and Dnestr Rivers rising to dangerous levels. Deputies endorsed a decree President Viktor Yuschchenko's decree declaring six regions "emergency ecological zones". They then examined two proposals for compensation -- one submitted by Yushchenko, the other by Tymoshenko. The two politicians, allies during the 2004 "Orange Revolution" that brought pro-Western liberals to power, have been at odds over a long list of issues since Tymoshenko was appointed premier for a second time last year.

Four people also died in Romania, and Bucharest has also put up money to help the victims.

t least six children are among the dead and two others were killed after being struck by lightning.

A senior minister described the flooding as the worst in a century, with the Prut and Dnestr Rivers rising to dangerous levels, and six regions have been declared "emergency ecological zones".