State of emergency introduced in Sochi after torrential rain in Olympic host city

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The view is distorted as the windshield of a car is covered in water as a driver makes his way through stormy weather after unusually heavy rainfall caused localized flooding in Sochi, Russia, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013. Many critics still complain about underdeveloped infrastructure in Sochi, where the Olympics will be held in February 2014. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

SOCHI, Russia – Floods and mudslides caused by heavy rain have prompted Russian authorities to introduce a state of emergency in Sochi, the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics.

The Emergency Situations Ministry said Wednesday that about 1,800 of its personnel were involved in cleaning up the streets and pumping out water after the torrential rain caused local rivers to overfill and flood some sections of highways and a few residential areas in the Black Sea resort.

The ministry said the water level in the city’s rivers was receding. Traffic in the city has returned to normal. The city’s airport and its railway station were functioning normally.

In the village of Mirny, where 10 houses were affected by flooding, emergency teams were deployed to pump out water.

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