Authorities in Russia’s Orenburg region in the Ural mountains have issued a warning to residents of riverside communities to evacuate due to rising waters in the Ural river causing flooding and a dam to burst.
Orenburg Mayor Sergei Salmin, in a video message on Telegram, described the situation as “critical” and urged residents to evacuate immediately without waiting for the situation to worsen.
Salmin emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating that 300 houses have already been flooded by the rising waters.
Several regions in Russia, including parts of Siberia and the Urals, have been dealing with severe floods in recent days, prompting authorities to declare a state of emergency in the Orenburg region.
The country’s emergencies ministry reported that they have assisted 3,500 people affected by flooding nationwide in the past few days.
In the city of Orsk, located east of Orenburg, a dam burst, posing a threat of flooding to a section of the city’s population of around 230,000 people.
The emergencies ministry stated that as many as 4,000 houses in a suburban area of Orsk, housing 10,000 residents, could be flooded due to the dam breach.
Efforts are underway to evacuate residents from the potential flood zone to safe gathering points, as shown in unverified footage circulating on Telegram.
The footage reveals water rushing through a breach in a low-lying earthen dam near Orsk, highlighting the severity of the situation.
Authorities are closely monitoring the situation and coordinating evacuation efforts to ensure the safety of residents in the affected areas.
