Death toll from Russian floods hits 150

Cars stand in a flooded street in the Black Sea resort of Gelendzhik in southern Russia, Saturday, July 7, 2012. Torrential rains dropped nearly a foot of water in the region overnight, unleashing intense flooding that killed over a hundred people and forced many to scramble out of their beds for refuge in trees and on roofs, officials said Saturday. / AP Photo/Ignat Kozlov

(AP) MOSCOW - The death toll from severe flooding in the Black Sea region of southern Russia has risen to at least 150.

Torrential rains dropped nearly a foot of water on the region, flooding more than 5,000 homes.

The water rushed into the area around the hard-hit town of Krimsk with such speed and volume that residents accused local officials of opening a water reservoir in the mountains above.

Federal investigators acknowledged Sunday that water had been released from the reservoir, but they said it did not cause the flooding.

The Interior Ministry said Sunday that 150 bodies had been recovered, 139 of them in Krimsk, a town of 57,000 people.

Many people were asleep when the flooding hit late Friday and early Saturday.

103 dead in floods in southern Russia

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Black Sea Water

[w_roos]

The Ruskies stole our rain. Speaker Boner has just passed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.