KRASNODAR, Russia -- Rescuers were continuing their search Saturday for survivors of flash flooding on the Black Sea coast that has cost the lives of at least 38 people and sent hundreds fleeing at the height of the holiday season.

Russian President Vladimir Putin lambasted rescue efforts by local authorities who have failed to cope with a tragedy at a time when some 30,000 holidaymakers flocked to the region.

"The lone efforts of the Emergency Situations Ministry and the regional authorities are clearly insufficient," Putin was quoted by the Interfax News Agency as saying during a Kremlin meeting with his interior and health ministers.

"It is essential that other ministries and services help them," he said.

Torrential rain in the past few days caused dykes and water reservoirs on the popular Black Sea coast to burst their banks, damaging hundreds of houses and causing more than 1,500 to flee.

Witnesses in the southern region have also slammed local authorities for failing to give prior warning to the disaster, which first struck around 15 villages and the town of Novorossiysk on Thursday, and angrily questioned why no help arrived until Friday.

Flags flew at half-mast across the devastated region of Krasnodar on Saturday, where local authorities have declared a day of mourning as the death toll from the floods reached 38, according latest Emergency Ministry figures.

Most of the dead were holidaymakers and included two two-year-old children.

Witnesses recounted how they saw people drown before their eyes when a wall of water gushed down from a mountain, sweeping dozens of cars and two buses into the sea during a terrifying 10 minutes.

"We have never had to deal with a tragedy like this before," Alexander Tkachyov, Krasnodar's regional governor, told ORT television.

The Emergencies Ministry said that 10 bodies had yet to be identified and that six of the 38 dead were Ukrainian holidaymakers.

The village of Shirokaya Balka, just outside Novorossiysk, has seen the most damage, its electricity, telephones, and gas completely cut as rescue workers find more and more victims.

More storms and high winds were expected to hit the Krasnodar region on Saturday, according to weather forecasts on Moscow Radio, which could hamper rescue operations.

The amount of rain that fell on Novorossiysk on Thursday was equivalent to the amount of rainfall the region usually gets in one month, AFP reported.

Nearly 1,000 rescuers and divers were still searching for more victims on Saturday in the Novorossiysk area, where several people have been reported missing.

Flooding and the resulting casualties have turned into a sensitive issue in Russia, with the government having already opened a criminal inquiry into official negligence following June flooding in central Russia that killed 114 people.