Vladimir Putin said it was important not to just talk about coordination between government agencies at various levels, but also to hear how human problems are solved, what has been done and what will be done in order to complete the job. In his opinion, cleaning up the aftermath of natural disasters can only be considered complete after the last victim has all his problems solved.
The President noted that the credit for handling the aftermath of emergencies last year was shared by the Ministry for Emergency Situations, which was assisted by railway workers and the naval base.
The Krasnodar Region was struck by natural disasters twice during 2002, in June and again in August. The flood in the cities and rural areas in June affected 68,000 people and claimed 36 lives, causing over 3.5 billion roubles of damage.
The emergency situation in the Novorossiisk area in August was caused by torrential rains and whirlwinds, which destroyed 197 residential houses, knocked out 118 power substations, damaged 27 kilometres of power lines and brought the sewerage system to a halt. Fifty-four people died and the total damage amounted to 900 million roubles.