Heat and drought forced the government to declare a state of emergency in 27 crop-producing regions. President Dmitry Medvedev declared a fire-related state of emergency in seven regions, mobilizing army units to join crews in battling the flames. A combination of the smoke from the fires, producing heavy smog blanketing large urban regions and the record-breaking heat wave put stress on the Russian healthcare system. Munich Re estimated 56,000 people in all died from the effects of the smog and heat wave. Verkhnyaya Vereya in the Nizhny Novgorod Region on the Volga became the symbol of the calamity that hit some 20 Russian regions in the summer and fall. Over 300 houses were destroyed by fire in the village. Russia’s worst drought in at least 50 years, which already drove wheat prices to the biggest jump since 1973. The fires cost roughly $15 billion USD in damages.