Russia, Kazakhstan
More than 100,000 people evacuated after floods
The flood disaster in Russia and neighboring Kazakhstan is taking on ever more dramatic proportions. With water levels rising rapidly, more than 100,000 people had already been forced to leave their homes by Wednesday.
The Urals swelled by half a meter overnight, after the river level there had already reached the critical mark of 9.30 meters on Tuesday evening. In the early afternoon, it was over ten meters.
The worst is yet to come for local residents
7,700 people were evacuated and hundreds of houses were flooded. However, the worst is yet to come for the approximately 550,000 residents of Orenburg, experts warned. The Urals could continue to swell considerably until Thursday.
Many are holding out in attics
In other areas, too, people were urged to seek safety by sirens and special TV broadcasts. However, some decided to stay put for the time being and hold out in attics. A total of 10,500 houses in Russia have been flooded so far, most of them in the Orenburg area.
Situation on the Volga and in Siberia acute
The situation is also acute in some parts of Europe's longest river, the Volga. The same applies to western Siberia, where the water level is expected to peak in three to five days. According to the local government, 4500 people have been evacuated.
It is quite common for some of the largest rivers in Russia and Central Europe to swell and burst their banks in spring. This year, however, a combination of factors caused unusually severe flooding.
Meltwater as the cause
According to Russian officials, this is already the worst flooding in the region since records began. The cause is thought to be meltwater from the Ural Mountains.
According to Russian disaster control experts, the ground was already soaked before the winter and then froze under very heavy snowfall, which then melted very quickly due to rapidly rising spring temperatures. And then there was also heavy rainfall.
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