Evacuations continue in flood-ravaged Southern Russia and Northern Kazakhstan

by times news cr

2024-04-17 04:46:29

Russia and Kazakhstan are being terrorized by the biggest floods in recent decades, huge rivers are overflowing due to the melting ice. This week, the floods of the Siberian Tobol and Ishim rivers will reach their peak.

Alexander Moore, the governor of the Tyumen region, said emergency services had begun an “urgent evacuation” of towns expected to be flooded. “Load your stuff. Leave immediately to a safe place, to relatives or to a temporary accommodation center,” urged A. Moor on social media.

Local authorities reported that in Tyumen, the water of the Ishim River has reached a “critical” level in some places – it has risen by more than 8 meters. Approximately 67 thousand Residents of the city of Ishim were urged to run by text messages.

In the neighboring Kurgan region, the water of the Tobol River has risen by 1.11 meters in the past day and reached 7.42 meters, officials said. Residents of 21 towns and villages were asked to leave their homes.

Russian Emergencies Minister Alexander Kurenkov and Kurgan Governor Vadim Shumkov inspected the flooded regions from a helicopter on Tuesday, the ministry said.

“National Disaster”

A. Kurenkov also inspected how the embankment in the Tobolo River is being built. He said it was being built by 4,000 people, including aid workers and volunteers, “with all services working day and night”.

The level of the Ural River has dropped in recent days, particularly in the flood-hit Orenburg region, officials said. Over the past 24 hours, water has receded from about 1,000 flooded homes, regional officials said.

The city of Orsk, which had recovered from last week’s heavy flooding, was again under threat as water surged from the dam.

In neighboring Kazakhstan, President K. Ž. Tokayev flew over the northern regions of the country. Astana reported that around 90,000 people had been evacuated there since the floods began more than a week ago. people. The President’s office reported that K. Ž. Tokayev told the evacuees that the state would take “all necessary measures” to protect them and discussed compensation issues with them.

“We are going through difficult times. This is a national disaster,” said the president, who described the floods as Kazakhstan’s worst climate disaster in 80 years. According to the Kazakh leader, “the next 10 days will be the most difficult” as large volumes of water are still flowing towards the city of Petropavlovsk.

The floods were caused by heavy rains, rising temperatures and rapid melting of snow and ice.

2024-04-17 04:46:29

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