Command and staff exercises were held in the most flood-prone areas of the Vitebsk region

March 12, Vitebsk / Sergey Kochetov - BELTA /. Command and staff exercises to practice actions during floods by emergency commissions have been held in 6 districts of the Vitebsk region, where the maximum level of spring floods is expected, the regional Emergency Situations Ministry department informed a BELTA correspondent. The exercises were held in accordance with the regional plan of measures to ensure safe passage of the spring flood of 2010. Situational headquarters have been established in all districts and cities of the region to manage forces and resources in flood aftermath liquidation. Technically equipped emergency services have been put on alert, including ambulance teams, over 70 emergency teams of RUP "Vitebskenergo", boiler and heating network enterprises, and the Vitebsk branch of RUP "Beltelecom". Depending on the developing situation, they will be reinforced, including technically, for which over 980 bulldozers and excavators, 14 mobile power stations, over 2.3 thousand watercraft, including 168 boats and motorboats, and 2 anti-scour trains have been prepared. Road services of the region have created reserves of stone and sand totaling over 16 thousand cubic meters. In places of potential emergencies, work is underway to break ice near bridge supports, clear areas under bridges, open culvert openings, and strengthen road surfaces in sections subject to meltwater impact. To ensure road safety, temporary restrictions on vehicle traffic are planned. In addition, the procedure for carrying out blasting operations for the pre-emptive destruction of ice on water bodies near road and railway bridges has been coordinated with military administration bodies. Organizations of the Vitebsk Regional Consumer Union have created a reserve of commodity and material resources worth 34.6 million rubles, including essential food and industrial goods, for the uninterrupted supply of the population in flooded areas. An anti-epidemic measures plan for the flood period has also been developed, and epidemiological reconnaissance teams have been formed. Rural medical outpatient clinics have been supplemented with additional medications. Information on the flood development in the region is being provided by 21 hydrological posts of the State Institution "Vitebskoblgidromet". If necessary, aviation equipment of the Vitebsk branch of RUP "Bellesavia" will be involved for aerial reconnaissance of the flood situation. The spring flood is expected to begin in late March - early April. As of March 5, continuous ice cover from 30 cm to 56 cm thick is observed on the rivers of the Western Dvina basin. In total, 790 houses with a population of about 2.3 thousand people in 19 settlements, mainly in Vitebsk, Orsha, Polotsk, and the Verkhnedvinsk district, may be affected by flooding from flood and meltwaters. 28 facilities (schools, dormitories, sanatoriums) are being prepared to receive evacuated people, and accommodation in hotels and cultural centers is also planned. -0-