2024-04-10 10:28:00
Water continues to rise in Russia and Kazakhstan, which have been hit by heavy flooding, especially in the Ural River region, AFP reported, citing a statement from authorities who expect another rise in water levels tomorrow.
Alarm sirens sounded in the city of Orenburg after the water level reached 914 cm in the evening. The threshold of 930 cm is considered dangerous, and the record is 946 cm, reached in 1942.
“This is a sign that the flood situation in Orenburg is extremely dangerous,” Mayor Sergey Salmin said in Telegram. He urged the residents of some neighborhoods of the city to evacuate immediately.
The flooding is due to heavy rains associated with rising temperatures, increased snowmelt and the breaking up of winter ice covering rivers and streams. No link has been established with climate change, but scientists believe that global warming is contributing to extreme weather events, such as heavy rainfall that causes floods, AFP recalls.
According to the Kremlin, the presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan, Vladimir Putin and Kassam-Jomart Tokayev, spoke by phone today and “agreed to give instructions to step up” work on coordinating relief and forecasting efforts by meteorologists.
To the east, in the Kurgan region, the evacuation of several villages along the Tobol River began. A total of 62 settlements and 4,400 houses are in the risk zone, according to data from the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, BTA reported.
The Tyumen region in Western Siberia is also expecting record levels, and authorities declared a state of emergency yesterday. The worst-hit city so far, Orsk, in Orenburg Oblast, was flooded over the weekend after a dam broke. There were protests there yesterday. The participants called on the authorities to be held accountable for the disaster. The protests were organized despite warnings from the regional prosecutor’s office not to organize illegal gatherings.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov assured today that those affected by the floods “will receive all the help they need, despite the difficult conditions”. However, Putin has no plans to visit the affected regions, he added.