Russian officials said on Wednesday that raging rivers across Siberia had forced some 17,000 people from flooded homes, but told the city of Yakutsk not to fear a second big wave heading its way.
The Emergency Ministry said a hastily-reinforced sand dike in Yakutsk would contain an expected surge of the river Lena after bombers and helicopters dropped bombs to destroy a huge ice floe which was stopping meltwater flowing northwards.
``The wave has passed the (upstream) town of Pokrovsk and was two meters below the critical level,' a ministry spokesman told Reuters. ``So we think it will pass harmlessly by Yakutsk.'
He said the peak in the diamond-mining center was expected on Wednesday afternoon but a fall in the water level to 25 feet from 27 feet on Tuesday night should save 200,000 residents from disaster.
The air force had stopped bombing the blockage 35 miles north of Yakutsk after reducing it to a sea of mushy ice, the Emergencies Ministry said, allowing the Lena to flow more easily to the Arctic.
On Tuesday, Yakutsk officials had ordered reinforcement of the sand dike, told businesses to close down and hospitals to move patients to their upper floors.
But as it became clear the danger was abating, residents began to re-emerge on to the streets to enjoy spring sunshine. Celebratory glasses of vodka were at a premium, however, after officials banned sales of strong alcohol to avert potential problems evacuating inebriated locals.
The International Federation of Red Cross Societies said the waters of the Lena alone had caused more than $200 million in damage -- YAKUTSK, Russia (Reuters)
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