Moscow, Jul 16 (IANS/RIA Novosti): Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in the southern town of Krymsk that has been severely damaged by floods caused by torrential rains.

Putin arrived Sunday evening to hold a meeting with local residents.

The floods, which hit three cities in south Russia July 7, has killed at least 171 people and flooded 7,000 homes, causing massive damage to gas, electricity and water supplies and road and rail links.

Most of the deaths occurred in Krymsk. More than 1,300 houses in Krymsk were damaged by the floods.

The disaster, caused by torrential rains flooding the mountain rivers, caught many locals unaware, especially in Krymsk, which accounted for the most deaths and property damage.

Many residents claimed they never received any storm warning. District authorities said they launched a news ticker on local television and sent out mass text messages, but the power was out before the flood, shutting off TV sets, and the text messages mostly arrived too late and in truncated form.