The spring is the most expected season during the winter in Yakutia. When it comes, it brings a great joy, as it gets warmer, snow melts, ice starts floating on rivers. A spectacular nature event, but…

The spring brings disasters as well. They happen to be devastating and hundreds of private houses and households go under water. This weekend the disaster came to the town of Srednekolymsk (population: 3500 people) situated on the west bank of the Kolyma River in North-East Yakutia, Siberia / Russia.

The ice jam occured on the river (see the photo further) and the level of water raised dramatically and the most part of the town went under water. At least, 1000 inhabitants were evacuated by the Russian Emergency Ministry yesterday, May 21st, 2012.

Read the rest of this entry…

Near Yakutsk ice on the Lena River is already passing, reached the settlement of Kangalassy in the North, and everything was fine in Lensk in South Yakutia.

Ice float on the Lena River is like a big event in Yakutia, Russia’s Siberian & Far-Eastern Republic. People are happy about it and worry at the same time.

Happy as it means the spring culmination, the start of constant warm weather and a good reason to go out for shashlik (Russian BBQ), gather snowdrops and admire the beauty of ice drifting along the mighty Lena River. An awesome nature show, indeed!

Worry as spring ice melting and floating might bring the devastating flooding. You might be heard of Lensk that drown totally in 2001 and reconstructed lately by the Russian Emergency Ministry.

Last spring was full of waters and some destructions. Read the rest of this entry…

On the way to Namzy. The Lena River's flood. Photo by Ajar Varlamov.

Ajar Varlamov is awesome as usual. When the Lena River flood started [it was on May 20, 2010], he travelled from Yakutsk north to Namzy. He didn’t make it to the final destination. He was stopped in the village of Tulagino. The rest part of the so-called Namzy highway, the 2nd existing asphalt road near Yakutsk, was totally flooded by high waters of the Lena River.

An unpleasant accident happened to Ajar. When he stood on the brink of the asphalt road in the area of the flooding, suddently the ground under his feet disappeared and he fell in cold ice snow water. Fortunately, he was saved. Praise god. So… take a look at his photos of the current flooding… Btw, two his Nikon cameras got broken

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More new photographs of the Lena River flooding in Yakutsk are upcoming with every update. Stay tuned. Check the last set.

The part of Yakutsk - Pokrovsk road between villages of Oktemzy and Tekhtyur is overflooded. May 19, 2010. Photo by 777.

2010 Spring Lena River Flooding. That’s a big event in Siberia’s Yakutia, indeed. We, all locals, follow the last flood information. Emergency and other services are on alert. The flood is already here. The river flows fast.

Yesterday, May 19, the part of the Yakutsk-Pokrovsk road between Oktemzy and Tekhtyur has been already flooded. It means the town of Pokrovsk is totally disconnected from Yakutsk for next two weeks.

Further, watch, how the Lena River flows through a live webcam. Check river pictures and the river map. In the course of the work day I will try to update this post with more flood information on the Lena River, the longest river in Siberia. Stay tuned. Read the rest of this entry…