Flood waters were rising in two cities in Russia\u2019s Ural mountains on Sunday after Europe\u2019s third longest river burst through a dam, flooding at least 6,000 homes and forcing thousands of people to flee with just their pets and a few belongings.
\nA string of Russian regions in the Ural Mountains and Siberia, alongside parts of neighbouring Kazakhstan have been hit in recent days by some of the worst floods in decades.
\nThe Ural River, which rises in the Ural Mountains and flows into the Caspian Sea, swelled several metres in just hours on Friday due to melt water, bursting through a dam embankment in the city of Orsk, 1,800 km (1,100 miles) east of Moscow.
\nMore than 4,000 people were evacuated in Orsk as swathes of the city of 230,000 were flooded. Footage published by the Emergencies Ministry showed people wading through neck-high waters, rescuing stranded dogs and travelling along flooded roads in boats and canoes.
\nPresident Vladimir Putin ordered Emergencies Minister Alexander Kurenkov to fly to the region. The Kremlin said on Sunday that flooding was now also inevitable in the Urals region of Kurgan and the Siberian region of Tyumen.
\nPutin had spoken to the governors of the regions by telephone, the Kremlin said.
\nThe Orenburg region\u2019s governor, Denis Pasler, said the floods were the worst to hit the region since records began.
\nHe said that flooding had been recorded along the entire course of the 2,400 km (1,500 mile) Ural River, which flows through Orenburg region and then through Kazakhstan into the Caspian Sea.
\nRussian media cited Orenburg region authorities as estimating the cost of flood damage locally as around 21 billion roubles ($227 million), and saying that flood waters would dissipate only after April 20.
\nIn Kazakhstan, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on Saturday the floods were his country\u2019s largest natural disaster in terms of scale and impact for 80 years.
\n\u2018LEVEL WILL ONLY RISE\u2019
\nFlood warnings were issued in other Russian regions and Kurenkov said the situation could get worse very fast.
\n\u201cThe water is coming, and in the coming days its level will only rise,\u201d said Sergei Salmin, the mayor of Orenburg, a city of at least 550,000 people. \u201cThe flood situation remains critical.\u201d
\nEmergencies Minister Kurenkov said bottled water and mobile treatment plants were needed, while local health officials said vaccinations against Hepatitis A were being conducted in flooded areas.
\nLocal officials said the dam in Orsk was built for a water level of 5.5 metres (18 feet)yet the Ural River rose to 9.6 metres (31.5 feet).
\nFederal investigators opened a criminal case for negligence and the violation of safety rules over the construction of the 2010 dam, which prosecutors said had not been maintained properly.
\nThe Orsk oil refinery suspended work on Sunday due to the flooding. Last year, the Orsk Refinery processed 4.5 million tons of oil.
\n(Reuters)flooding. flood waters, Ural Mountains, dam<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Flood waters in Russia’s Ural mountains have caused at least 6,000 homes to flood, forcing thousands of people to evacuate with their pets and belongings. The Ural River burst through a dam in the city of Orsk, leading to the worst floods in decades in the region. President Putin ordered Emergencies Minister Alexander Kurenkov to the affected areas, with flooding expected in other regions as well. The cost of flood damage in the Orenburg region is estimated at around 7 million. The situation is expected to worsen, with flood warnings issued in other Russian regions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1521,117,1625,5408,2464,5142,201,4873,5406,4876,5404,5098,210,2218,3367,3419,148,4086,2952,3091,5076,4843,154,3839,453,19,5405,1222,3260,300,2907,4861,5407,170,1357,962,18],"class_list":["post-7220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-1521","tag-boats","tag-construction","tag-dam","tag-damage","tag-dogs","tag-europe","tag-flood","tag-flood-waters","tag-flooding","tag-floods","tag-governor","tag-health","tag-investigators","tag-kazakhstan","tag-kremlin","tag-local","tag-mayor","tag-media","tag-moscow","tag-oil","tag-president","tag-putin","tag-river","tag-roads","tag-russia","tag-russian-urals","tag-safety","tag-sea","tag-siberia","tag-suspended","tag-treatment","tag-ural-mountains","tag-violation","tag-vladimir-putin","tag-water","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n