2024-04-08T09:45:26+00:00
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/ The Russian authorities announced, on Monday, that floodwaters in the regions of Western Siberia have invaded more than 10,000 homes, causing the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents, while emergency services continue to evacuate many cities.
Agence France-Presse reported that water has so far flooded 10,400 homes in the Ural, Volga and Western Siberia regions.
Yesterday, 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 and 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.”
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 nine centimeters,” 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 centimeters, reaching 872 centimetres.”
Russian media quoted the city’s mayor, Sergei Salmin, as saying that the flood was expected to be “unprecedented,” warning of forced evacuations.
Russian meteorologist Rosgidromet expected the floods to peak in Orenburg the day after tomorrow, 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 has a population of 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.”