Southwest of Russia recently experienced server floods early July 2012. The area concerned by the events is situated at the border of the Black Sea, and the city of Krymsk has been severely damaged. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Russian_floods)The following animation shows SMOS soil moisture (m3/m3), derived from July 4th to July 9th 2012 . The large dark blue area (July, 6th) corresponds well with the heavy precipitations reported for this region.
