Freak flooding kills 150 in south Russia MOSCOW, July 8 (UPI) -- Five months' worth of rain in two days that deluged the southwestern Russian region of Krasnodar killed at least 150 people, emergency officials said. An official told the RIA Novosti bodies had been recovered in the towns of Krymsk, Gelendzhik and Novorossiysk. Pounding rains hit the region Friday night and washed away homes while most people were asleep, the report said. Meteorologists said the region sustained five months worth of rain since Friday. The Emergency Ministry told Itar-Tass some 12,000 people have been affected and almost 5,200 houses were flooded. Meanwhile, police in the region announced they had launched a criminal negligence investigation of the management of a mountain reservoir and dam. Investigator Ivan Sengerov told reporters there had been "numerous" automatic discharges from the reservoir's sluice gates as water levels rose, but it wasn't immediately known if the releases could be attributed to any of the deaths.