2024-04-11 13:13:54
Russia announced on Monday that floods had engulfed more than 10,000 homes in the Ural, Volga, and Western Siberia regions, while emergency services continued to evacuate cities witnessing rising river levels.
On Sunday, Russia declared a federal state of emergency in the Orenburg region, as the waters of the Ural River flooded a large area of the city of Orsk, while its levels rose to dangerous levels in the city of Orenburg.
The Russian Emergencies Ministry said on social media platforms, “In the territories of Siberia, Pervolga (Volga region) and the central federal regions, an increase in air temperature, active snow melting and the formation of rivers are expected.”
She added that the waters “flooded more than 10,400 residential homes.”
Russia has already evacuated thousands of people, most of them in the Orenburg region near Kazakhstan. A large area of the city of Orsk was flooded after heavy rains caused a nearby dam to collapse.
The authorities of the Orenburg region announced that the level of the Ural River in Orsk “dropped by 9 centimetres,” but water levels in the city of Orenburg, which has a population of approximately 550,000, are about to reach dangerous thresholds.
The regional government said, “In Orenburg, the water level rose in one day by 16 centimetres, reaching 872 centimetres.”
Russian media quoted the city’s mayor, Sergei Salmin, as saying that the flood is expected to be “unprecedented,” warning of forced evacuations.
Russian meteorologist Rosgidromet expected the floods to reach their peak in Orenburg on Wednesday, and to affect many neighborhoods of the city.
The authorities also warned of an “inevitable” rise in water levels in the Tyumen and Kurgan regions of Siberia, amid expectations that the level of the large Tobol River would rise.
Emergency services in the city of Kurgan, which is inhabited by about 300,000 people and is located near the Kazakh border, said that they had begun “preventive evacuations” and transported 571 people.
The Kremlin had asked the authorities in Kurgan and Tyumen to be on alert, citing “anomalies of nature.”
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2024-04-11 13:13:54