In August 2013, unseasonably heavy rains brought historic flooding to far eastern Russia and northeastern China. Russia's Amur and Khabarovsk regions were the hardest-hit areas.
The region received more than 300 millimeters (12 inches) of rain in the first 12 days of August alone. Forecasters have described the event as the largest-scale flood in Russia's history. Floodwaters forced more than 10,000 people from their homes, inundated vast swaths of farmland and swamped numerous roads.
In the city of Khabarovsk, the Amur River had swollen to a record height of 696 centimeters (274 inches) on Aug. 21, according to media reports. If the river height reaches 780 centimeters (307 inches), officials in Khabarovsk will begin mass evacuations of the city, which is home to 575,000 people.
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