The death toll from severe flooding in Ukraine climbed to 30 on Thursday, but water levels after days of inundation finally were falling at some locations, AP quoted a senior government official as saying. Most of the victims - 23 - drowned, while three succumbed to health problems, three to accidents, and one to a landslide caused by high waters, said Volodymyr Shandra, Ukraine's Minister of Emergency Situations, in a statement to parliament. Almost 40,000 residences concentrated in Ukraine's western Carpathian region remained uninhabitable due to flooding that struck on Sunday and Monday, Shandra said. Water levels were nonetheless inching downwards at some locations on Thursday, with waterways registering drops throughout the upper stretches of the Dnistr and Prut river basins, the Interfax news agency reported.
