KIEV, July 27 – Heavy rainstorms killed at least 13 people, including five children, in western regions of Ukraine on Sunday in what the government described as the worst flooding disaster in 100 years.

President Viktor Yushchenko flew to the region on Sunday afternoon to declare areas hit by the severest flooding national disaster areas.

The government said it may need emergency funds of at least 1 billion hryvnias to tackle the damages, but there was only about 200 million hryvnias available for such spending in the 2008 budget.

"The situation is very difficult,” First Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Turchynov said after an emergency meeting in the region. “Ukraine has seen nothing like this for 100 years."

The centre of the flood destruction was traced by the 1,400-km-long Dniestr River, which breached its banks in a number of areas, flooding nearby villages, officials said.

Moldova and its breakaway region of TransDistria, also located in the Dniestr's flood plain, have also been battling with floods.

Yushchenko’s declaration of the area as the national disaster area was aimed at freeing up additional funds and government equipment and manpower to control the high water.

The latest estimates placed the value damage caused by the rains and overflowing waterways in excess of 1 billion hryvnias ($206 million), but some estimates put the figure closer to 1.6 billion hryvnias.

Rainfall in the upper Carpathian Mountain region in west Ukraine broke existing records, and storms were likely to continue for at least 24 hours, officials at Ukraine's national weather service said.
The heaviest-hit Ukrainian regions were the Lviv and Chernivtsi provinces, where 20,000 homes have been affected.

Early estimates by civil defence authorities placed the number of damaged bridges in flood-struck regions across Ukraine in the hundreds, and distance of damaged road in excess of 2,000 kilometres.

Seven of the drowning deaths, including four children, were in the mountainous Ivano-Frankivsk region, where rains and flooding destroyed some 75% of planted crops.

More than 7,000 people along the Dniestr River alone were evacuated, and crisis management crews on Sunday spoke of further evacuations planned.

Over 700 persons had to leave their homes by emergency boat, helicopter, or all-terrain vehicle to avoid the rising waters, according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

Many villagers initially refused to leave their homes when informed by officials of the rising danger, Channel 5 television reported.

Officials from Ukraine's Ministry of Emergency Situations warned of potentially critical damage to a pair of mid-Dniestr hydro-power dams which, if not brought under control, could fail and flood hundreds more villages.

Yushchenko speaking to reporters in the Ivano-Frankivsk province said “these dams will hold...we are watching this matter closely.”

Rising water levels at or near historical records also were reported on the Tisza and Prut' Rivers. Rivers were at some locations flowing at as much as 10 metres above normal levels, officials said.

Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko travelled separately Sunday to the hardest flood-hit areas on a tour of inspection.

The president cancelled participation in gala festivities and memorial ceremonies marking the 1,020th anniversary of the founding of Christianity in the region, according to a Yushchenko office statement.

“We have to help one another, we cannot leave any one alone,” Yushchenko told reporters in Kiev prior to departure. “Together we can solve all problems...but the government reaction must be immediate.” (tl/dpa/ez)