Rescuers evacuate residents from a flood zone in Orsk. Photo: RUSSIAN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE / HANDOUT
Evacuation efforts intensified in Russia’s Orenburg region on Monday, according to regional governor Denis Pasler, as waters continued to rise following the collapse of a dam in Orsk on Friday.
The breaching of a second defensive dam in the nearby city of Novotroitsk and a second river in Orsk breaking its banks both contributed to the dire emergency situation overnight, amid weather reports predicting more heavy rain still to come in the region.
On Sunday a federal state of emergency was declared throughout the Orenburg region, which borders Kazakhstan, by which stage over 10,000 residential buildings were reported to have flooded.
Water levels in the Ural River continued to rise over the weekend and increased by 16 centimetres overnight to reach 872 centimetres on Monday, less that 50 centimetres below the level considered highly dangerous.
The floods are expected to worsen, and the mayor of regional capital Orenburg, Sergey Salmin, urged residents in flood risk zones to evacuate the city as water levels approached dangerously high levels. The mayor estimated the high water level would not be reached until Wednesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who dispatched Minister of Emergency Situations Alexander Kurenkov to Orsk on Sunday amid the worsening situation, has ordered the creation of a government commission to handle the response to the extreme flooding.
