Eastern Soviet Union Flooded by Typhoon

A typhoon and heavy rains have hit the Soviet far eastern area of Khabarovsk, flooding large tracts of farm land, destroying bridges and washing away railway lines, the Communist Party daily Pravda reported.

It said troops with helicopters were called in to help emergency teams set up around the Khor River basin, where rainfall in the first week of August far exceeded the average for the whole month.

Several villages and settlements and about 8,000 acres of meadow land were under water, Pravda said, but inhabitants had managed to bring cattle and cut fodder crops to safety.

Bridges have been strengthened and authorities are still on the alert as the level of the Amur river, which traces the border with China, continues to rise. Weather forecasters see no letup in the rains, Pravda said.