Floodwater cuts Trans-Talas Highway west of Kyzyl-Adyr

KYZYL-ADYR — Floodwater in the Kuru-Say cut the Trans-Talas Highway west of Kyzyl-Adyr yesterday, washing out the road at the bridge over the wash and stranding trucks bound for the Kazakh border.

The Kuru-Say, a broad bed of gravel and boulders that drains north from the foothills of the western Talas Alatau, is dry for most of the year and carries water for only a few days or weeks each spring. Melting snow and two days of rain sent a torrent down it early yesterday morning, and by mid-morning the water was running across the road on both sides of the bridge.

The territorial highways department closed the road and diverted light traffic onto farm tracks to the south. Heavy trucks were held in Kyzyl-Adyr. The department said repairs would begin as soon as the water fell and could take several days.