The situation in Orsk in the south of Russia, which was partially flooded by water from a broken dam on Friday, remains critical, Russian Emergency Situations Minister Alexander Kurenkov said today. Authorities in the Orenburg region, where Orsk is located, declared a state of emergency at the federal level today due to flooding, TASS agency wrote. Other Russian regions in the region are also preparing for heavy water, and Kazakhstan is also struggling with flooding.
“A critical situation has arisen in Orsk,” said Kurenkov, who visited the flooded city today. The ministry posted a video on Telegram in which its boss is sailing on a small boat through the streets of Orsk. Water in the city reaches up to the windows of houses.
Floods are plaguing the entire region and according to regional governor Denis Pasler, they are not abating. In addition, the rescue work could be further complicated by the weather, according to meteorologists, heavy rainfall is expected.
In total, over 4,000 people had to be evacuated in the Orenburg region, the regional government said. total damages are estimated at approximately 21 billion rubles (5.3 billion crowns).
Friday’s dam break was preceded by several days of flooding in the entire area, which already declared a state of emergency on Thursday. Orsk is located on the Ural River downstream from the Iriklin Dam, from which water managers had to release a record amount of water after a sharp rise in water levels. According to the authorities, more than 6,600 houses are now flooded in the city, and 400 homes are under water in the regional capital of Orenburg. Local refineries also had to suspend operations.
Orsk is located about 100 kilometers southeast of the southern tip of the Ural Mountains. The river of the same name divides the agglomeration into the New Town, located in Europe, and the Old Town, which is already in Asia. It was the Asian part that was flooded. There is a border crossing with Kazakhstan about 15 kilometers south of the city.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to his spokesman Dmitry Peskov, spoke today with Kurenkov and with representatives of the Kurgan and Tyumen regions, which also lie near the Kazakh border and are threatened by floods. He discussed with the leaders the need for “timely adoption of measures to help people and their possible evacuation”. Preventive measures have so far been adopted by two districts in the Kurgan region.
Floods also affected this Central Asian country, while Kazakhstan President Kasym-Žomart Tokayev spoke on Saturday about one of the biggest natural disasters in the last 80 yearsAFP wrote. The situation in Kazakhstan continues to be complicated, the country’s Prime Minister Olžas Bektenov said today according to TASS.
