After two dam breaches

Dam burst in Russia: situation is “critical”

(Bild: AP)

The flood situation in the Russian region of Orenburg at the southern foothills of the Ural Mountains continues to worsen. Two dam breaches are responsible for the massive flooding. The authorities declared a state of emergency.

The authorities announced on Sunday that 10,400 houses had been flooded by the high water in the Ural River and the two broken dams. In the city of Orsk alone, which has more than 200,000 inhabitants, thousands of houses were under water. In some cases, only the roofs were still protruding from the floodwaters.

Thousands of people brought to safety
"A critical situation has arisen," explained Alexander Kurenkov, the civil defense minister summoned to the region by Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, during a visit to Orsk on Sunday. More than 4,000 people had been brought to safety and eleven emergency shelters had been set up for more than 8,000 people.

Minister Kurenkov (left in uniform) in the crisis area

(Bild: APA/AFP/Russian Emergencies Ministry/Handout)

Four deaths were also reported in Orsk, but according to the authorities these were not related to the flooding. The city is located around 1700 kilometers south-east of the capital Moscow and close to the border with the Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan.

Old town flooded
According to the authorities, a second dam burst on Saturday following the first. The first one broke on Friday evening due to the pressure of the water from the Ural Mountains, where ice and snow are melting. The floods flooded parts of the old town of Orsk on Saturday.

Residents and their pets were evacuated to safety.

(Bild: AP)

Residents resisted evacuation
Rescue workers reported that some people resisted the evacuation in the hope that the situation would improve. However, this is not in sight for the time being, they said. In addition, the flood waters were expected to rise further due to rainfall.

The judiciary opened criminal proceedings for "negligence and violation of construction safety regulations". According to the mayor of Orenburg, the capital of the oblast of the same name, water levels would rise in the coming days.

There were also reports of flooding in Siberia, the Volga region and central Russia. The Ural is one of the largest rivers in Europe. It flows from the Ural Mountains to the Caspian Sea.

Oil refinery had to stop work
Meanwhile, the operation of an oil refinery in Orsk has been suspended. According to the operator, the reason for shutting down oil processing was to avoid environmental hazards in view of the flooding.

The petrochemical plant not far from the border with Kazakhstan has an annual capacity of six million tons of oil. In Russia, oil processing has also been reduced at other refineries due to Ukrainian attacks.