Russia on Sunday was reeling from devastating flash floods in its southern Krasnodar region where at least 150 people were killed and 29,000 remained without power in the region's worst natural disaster in history.

Russian President Vladimir Putin personally inspected the worst-hit areas on Saturday evening, comparing the force of the water that trapped people in their homes at night and ripped up pavements and traffic lights and flooded rail tracks to a "tsunami".

Putin also ordered investigators to find out if enough had been done to prevent the flooding deaths after flying to the region to deal with the first big disaster of his new presidency. He said money would be put aside to build new homes for victims of the worst flooding in decades in Krasnodar, a relatively rich region with agriculture and tourism industries.

"I have asked the leadership of the (federal) Investigative Committee to come down. The Investigative Committee will check the actions of all the authorities - how notice was given, how it could have been given, how it should have been given and who acted in what way," Putin said.

Putin said survivors would get new homes while families of victims would receive 2 million roubles ($60,800) each.

At least 150 people died in the floods including 12 from the port of Novorossiisk and the popular Black Sea resort town of Gelendzhik where five were electrocuted, spokesman for regional investigators Ivan Sengerov said.

The worst hit area was a district around Krymsk, a town of 57,000 where rescue teams have found 139 bodies including those of a 1-year-old toddler and a 10-year-old child, Sengerov said, adding that most of the decedent were pensioners, and the death toll was likely to be revised as rescue teams continued to work.

Krymsk is about 200 kilometers northwest of the Black Sea resort of Sochi where Russia will host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

Torrential rains dropped more than 28 centimeters of water on the region, flooding more than 5,000 homes.

The water rushed into the area around the hard-hit town of Krymsk with such speed and volume that residents accused local officials of opening a water reservoir in the mountains above.

Federal investigators acknowledged on Sunday that water had been released from the reservoir, but they said it did not cause the flooding.

"The Krasnodar region is experiencing the most difficult and the most devastating floods in its history," the regional administration said, adding that the region would observe a day of mourning on Monday.

Krymsk residents complained on Sunday that they have been left to their own devices and authorities offered no help.

"It's a catastrophe," said Viktor Voloshin, who arrived in the flood-ravaged town earlier on Sunday to help relatives whose house was damaged.

"People need drinking water but there is no drinking water being distributed," he said, adding that people were afraid of leaving their houses for fear of looting even if their homes were destroyed. "We have temperatures around 30 C now, diseases will begin," he said.

Pensioner Lidia Polinina said her elderly neighbor had died after becoming trapped by the floodwaters.

"She was paralyzed. She couldn't get out of the house.

"Everything has been destroyed," she added. "We need to help pumping water out of the house, we have no drinking water.

"Our house was flooded to the ceiling, we could not open the door because of the water, so we broke the window to climb out," she said.

"I put my 5-year-old grandson on the roof of our submerged car, and then we somehow climbed up into the attic. I don't know how we managed to survive," she said.

AFP-Reuters-AP