Water rises

Flooding in Russia: village evacuated

In the Russian city of Orenburg, the Ural River overflowed its banks.(Bild: Associated Press. All rights reserved)

In the flood-stricken southern Russian oblast of Kurgan, the water rose so quickly on Friday night that the village of Kaminskoye on the Tobol River had to be evacuated. The governor of Kurgan, Vadim Shumkov, stated in the morning on the short message service Telegram that the water level had risen by 1.4 meters. The Tobol River, on which Kaminskoye is located, also flows through the city of Kurgan, which is home to around 300,000 people.

There could also be flooding there in the coming days, said Shumkov. "We can only hope that the flood plain will extend as far as possible and that the ground will absorb as much water as possible on its way." A dam is being reinforced in Kurgan.

Hundreds of houses flooded in Orenburg
In the city of Orenburg, which lies further west on the Urals, hundreds of houses were flooded during the night. The peak will probably be reached this Friday, said Deputy Mayor Alexei Kudinov according to the state news agency RIA Novosti. The floods are then expected to recede in two days. According to the authorities, the water level in Orenburg was 11.29 meters in the morning. The day before, the level had been 10.87 meters.

Flooding in Orenburg(Bild: Associated Press)

(Bild: Associated Press)

Orenburg is located around 1200 kilometers south-east of Moscow in the oblast of the same name. Large parts of the city, which has a population of 550,000, are already flooded. Many people have had to leave their homes and abandon their belongings.

100,000 people brought to safety from the floods
The Russian oblasts of Kurgan and Orenburg border Kazakhstan, where severe flooding has also occurred. According to the Kazakh Ministry of Civil Protection, almost 100,000 people were brought to safety from the floods. A state of emergency is still in force in eight of Kazakhstan's 17 provinces.

This year, several factors came together to trigger the unusually severe flooding. According to Russian disaster control experts, the ground was already soaked before the winter. It froze under very heavy snowfall, and when temperatures rose rapidly in spring, the mixture melted - accompanied by heavy rainfall.