26 March, Vitebsk /Olga Bogacheva - BELTA/. The first floodings by meltwater were recorded in the Vitebsk region last weekend, BELTA correspondent was informed by Marina Fando, press secretary of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. In the village of Zubovo, Orsha district, two sheds and a cellar owned by a pensioner couple were flooded. The residential house was not affected. As established by the Ministry of Emergency Situations employees, a pipe running under the road could not cope with the flow of incoming water, resulting in a spill over an area of 500 sq.m. The elderly couple refused the relocation offered by the rescuers. During the time the operational group was at the flooding site, the water level dropped almost twofold from 60 cm. Due to the decrease in air temperature, the intensity of snowmelt decreased, and the farmstead was cleared of meltwater. There is no threat of flooding of nearby households located in this village, as they are 40 m away. Another flooding of a private farmstead occurred in Vitebsk on Bebelya Street. Although ditches were dug on the territory of the yard to drain water, they also could not cope with the amount of incoming water. Meltwater partially entered the basement, and 20 sq.m. of the plot were flooded. A motor pump from the Vitebsk City Department of Emergency Situations was used to pump out the water. Four people live in the house, and there was no need for their relocation. -0-

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