Russia and Kazakhstan ordered more than 100,000 people to evacuate after rapid snowmelt caused river levels to rise beyond the region's worst floods in at least 70 years. reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
The deluge of water from melting snow inundated dozens of villages in the Ural Mountains, Siberia and regions of Kazakhstan near the Ural and Tobol rivers, whose levels local authorities said rose by meters in a few hours to the highest level that have ever been registered.
Late yesterday, the level of the Ural River in Orenburg, a city with a population of about 550,000, reached 9.31 meters, exceeding the critical level of 9.30 meters, the regional governor said. He urged residents of the risk areas to evacuate.
"I call for caution and for those in flooded areas to evacuate immediately," Dennis Pasler said in Telegram.
The townspeople rowed along the roads as if they were in the middle of rivers.
Dams and embankments are being strengthened.
Upstream of the Ural River, rushing waters breached a dam wall in the city of Orsk last Friday.
Regional authorities said the water level in Orsk had dropped by 21 centimeters and was now 9.07 meters, still well above the official danger level of around 7 meters.
Russia's Emergencies Ministry said water levels had dropped in a number of areas, but described the situation as "still severe".
Sirens in Kurgan, a city on the Tobol River, a tributary of the Irtysh, warned people to evacuate immediately. Regional authorities said the water level would continue to rise for three days. and predicted a "difficult situation" until the end of April.
A state of emergency was also declared in Tyumen, the capital of the main oil-producing region in Western Siberia.
Russian news agencies reported that Emergencies Minister Alexander Kurenkov arrived in the city as part of a regional tour to assess the risk of flooding.
"Difficult days are still ahead for Kurgan and Tyumen," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "A lot of water is coming"
President Vladimir Putin speaks with President Kassam-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, where more than 86,000 people have been evacuated due to flooding. Tokaev said the floods were probably the worst in 80 years.