A mosque in Orenburg, Kazakhstan
Multiple evacuations are underway in southern Russia and northern Kazakhstan after flood waters rose to critical levels. The rivers, which include the Ural – at 1,509 miles (2,429 km) – Europe’s third-longest, swelled as warm temperatures melted snow and ice which then combined with heavy rains to overwhelm river embankments and at least one dam.
The flooding is the worst to hit Central Asia in 80 years.
Thousands of residents in the Russian city of Orenburg, which lies roughly 900 miles (1,448 km) east of Moscow and near the border with Kazakhstan, were asked to evacuate Friday. The floodwaters had risen 37’ (11.25 m) in Orenburg on Friday, leaving thousands of homes submerged in water.
The flooding began after the Ural was swelled by snow melt, burst its banks, and causing a deluge in dozens of towns and cities along the river.
The Ural flows from Russia’s Ural Mountains through Kazakhstan to the Caspian Sea,
At press time, at least 120,000 people have been evacuated from areas experiencing the worst flooding.
“All services of the city and the region are operating in emergency mode,” the local government in Orenburg said in a statement. “We are ready to help residents with moving out of flooded areas and placing them in safe conditions,” adding that temporary shelter was available for those displaced by the rising waters.
The flooding is expected to cost the region 21 billion Russian rubles ($227 million) in damages and reconstruction costs.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
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