storm
The situation in Russia’s flood areas remains tense
Floods in the Russian city of Orsk. photo
© Anatoly Zhdanov/Kommersant Publishing House/AP/dpa
In the Orenburg region, more than ten thousand houses are under water. The city of Orsk is particularly affected. Dissatisfied citizens demonstrate there and accuse the authorities of failure.
In Russia, the situation remains tense due to spring floods in the southern foothills of the Ural Mountains and other regions. The Orenburg region is most affected. There are standing there due to flooding in the Ural River and after several dam failures near the city Orsk more than ten thousand houses under water, the authorities said. More than 6,100 people had to be brought to safety, including 2,000 in Orsk.
In the city with 200,000 inhabitants, the entire old town as well as other districts and surrounding villages were flooded, the Kommersant newspaper reported. The gas and electricity were switched off there. The authorities had already declared a state of emergency on Sunday.
A group of around a hundred demonstrators gathered in front of the town hall in Orsk, reported the Kremlin-critical portal “Ostoroshno, Novosti”. They shouted “Shame! Shame!” and accused the authorities of failing. They criticized the fact that the dam, on which, according to official information, a lot of money was spent, did not withstand the floods. The mayor and the governor of the region finally met for talks with a delegation of outraged citizens. Orsk is located about 1,700 kilometers east of Moscow.
37 centimeters left
The Civil Defense Ministry said the flood peak has now passed Orsk and will be in the region around the regional capital Orenburg by Wednesday next week. According to the Orenburg city administration, the water reached a level of 8.93 meters on Monday morning – a mark of 9.30 meters is considered critical. The mayor said the situation would only get worse in the next two days.
As Deputy Civil Defense Minister Viktor Jazutsenko said, it is said to be a record flood. Such a high water level has never been recorded in the Ural River before. President Vladimir Putin ordered the formation of a special government commission to deal with the consequences of the flood.
It’s not just the area around Orenburg that is affected. The Civil Defense Ministry warned of a risk of flooding in Tyumen in western Siberia. They are also preparing for evacuations there. A state of emergency was partially declared in Kurgan in southwest Siberia because the Suer River overflowed its banks. In the village of Sekisowo, a man drowned after trying to cross the river via a footbridge despite a ban, local authorities said. The man was drunk. The region’s governor called on all residents of villages near the Tobol River to seek safety. “Don’t wait for the water to come. It comes at night and unexpectedly, increasing in number, in the form of a high wave,” the politician warned on Telegram.