VIDEO ⟩ The mayor of Orsk has announced the third dam break

The dam broke on Friday evening.

242 people are in temporary accommodation, evacuation continues.

More than 2,400 houses and more than 3,000 backyard areas were flooded in Orsk.

Three bodies were found in the flood zone, the operative services said.

The cause of their death is unknown. According to preliminary information, the cause of death of at least two people is not drowning, the district administration said.

“The water level has risen significantly, now it is impossible to move independently in the flooded areas. Specialists say that the peak of the floods has not yet been reached,” the Orenburg region administration said in a statement.

Initially, the mayor of Orsk, Vasiliys Kozupica, reported that the protective dam was breached in two places due to spring floods.

“The water probably reached a level higher than the critical level of the dam,” explained the mayor.

One breach is ten meters long.

The water could drain from the flooded area in two and a half weeks, predicted Kozupica.

Orsk is the second largest city of the Orenburg region. It has a population of 189,000.

Evacuation is also taking place in other districts of the region, including Orenburg, where the water level in the Ural River is approaching the critical mark.

Previously, large floods occurred in the Altai region, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo and Tomsk regions.

This happened because the climatic spring arrived almost two weeks earlier than usual.

In the center of the region, Orenburg, which is also located on the banks of the Urals, the forced evacuation of residents from the flooded city districts has begun, Orenburg Mayor Sergej Salmin said.

The water level in the city may reach a critical level by night, the mayor warned.

Electricity has already been cut off in part of the city.

“Those who refuse to leave the dangerous area voluntarily, we will forcibly evacuate with the participation of police officers,” warned Salmin in a video message.

In total, almost 4,000 houses were flooded in 25 towns and villages in the Orenburg region.