Russia declares federal emergency over dam burst flooding
Russia has declared a federal emergency over flooding due to rising levels in the Ural River due to a dam burst in the Orenburg region.
The 2,430 km-long Ural River flows south from the Ural mountains through Russia and Kazakhstan into the Caspian Sea.
The declaration of a federal emergency on Sunday reflects the risk of flooding spreading beyond Orenburg with preparations underway for other possible flooding in three other regions.
Local officials said the flooding in Orenburg had forced more than 4,000 people, including 885 children, to evacuate their homes.
Russian Tass news agency said a further 2,000 homes were flooded, bringing the total to nearly 6,300 in the region.
Also on Sunday, evacuation operations for residents in two districts of the Kurgan region were launched as a precautionary measure.
Russia’s emergencies minister, Alexander Kurenkov, arrived in Orsk, one of the hardest-hit cities, on Sunday to see over the rescue operations.
“I propose classifying the situation in the Orenburg region as a federal emergency and establishing a federal level of response,” he said, according to RIA Novosti, a state news agency. The move means federal assistance and coordination can supplement state and local efforts.
Orsk, which is just 20km north of the border with Kazakhstan, suffered the brunt of the flooding after a dam burst on Friday.
The regional government estimated the overall cost of the damage from the flooding in the Orenburg region to be about 21bn roubles ($228mn).
Meanwhile, a criminal investigation has been ordered to check whether any foul play or construction violations caused the dam to break.
In related news, the Kremlin's spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said Russia's President Vladimir Putin had spoken to Kurenkov, as well as the local heads of the Urals region of Kurgan and the Siberian region of Tyumen to discuss the situation and “the need … for early adoption of measures to assist people and their possible evacuation”.
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