Severe flooding in the Russian city of Orenburg has caused water levels to rise to a critical point, with levels exceeding two meters above normal. This has resulted in only the rooftops of some houses remaining visible.
The city’s mayor has issued urgent warnings for residents to evacuate, accompanied by the sounding of sirens.
Water levels in Orenburg are expected to reach their peak by Friday, although the flooding is anticipated to extend into neighboring regions over the coming days and weeks.
The impact has also been felt in Kazakhstan, where approximately 100,000 people have been evacuated from their homes within the past week.
Authorities are describing this flooding event as the worst to occur in the region in the past 80 years.
Last week, several rivers in the region, including the Ural River which is Europe’s third-largest, overflowed their banks, impacting areas across Russia and Kazakhstan.
The flooding was exacerbated by high seasonal temperatures causing rapid melting of snow and ice, coupled with heavy rainfall.
In Orenburg, the Ural River rose to 11.43 meters (37 feet) by Friday. As a result, authorities have evacuated more than 10,000 people and reported 11,700 homes flooded.
Mayor Sergei Salmin has urgently called for additional mass evacuations in certain districts.
“Leave your homes immediately. The situation is critical, don’t waste time!” he emphasized on his Telegram channel, clarifying that the sirens heard throughout the city were not part of a drill.
The city of Orenburg, located approximately 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) southeast of Moscow, is home to a population of half a million people.
In the aftermath of recent flooding, water levels have subsided in Orsk, a city situated further east and upstream from Orenburg. Orsk experienced significant impact last weekend when a dam burst, leading to rare public protests due to perceived failures by local authorities in saving the dam and offering low compensation.
The Ural River, which flows from Orenburg through northwest Kazakhstan and into the Caspian Sea, has been a focal point of concern. Additionally, the Ishim and Tobol rivers are approaching dangerous levels, with predictions indicating that they will reach their peaks around the 23rd to 24th of April.
Floodwaters pose a significant threat to a large area of northern Kazakhstan, with dams and reservoirs reaching full capacity.
In Petropavl, located on the Ishim River in the North Kazakhstan region, a local reservoir is on the verge of overflowing. This could potentially lead to the flooding of a major road connecting two Russian cities, Chelyabinsk and Novosibirsk.
In addition, the Russian village of Kaminskoye has been evacuated due to a sudden rise of 1.4 meters in water levels overnight in the Tobol River, as reported by regional governor Vadim Shumkov.
Kurgan, the regional capital with a population of 300,000, is downstream and is also considered to be at risk of flooding.
