10,000 houses were flooded in the Urals and Siberia

A federal state of emergency was declared in Russia’s Orenburg region on Sunday after the Ural River flooded Orsk and reached dangerous levels in Orenburg.

The Ministry of Emergencies of Russia reported on social media on Monday that more than 10,400 residential houses were flooded, and it is predicted that the snow will melt rapidly and rivers will overflow in Siberia, the Volga basin and the central federal regions as the air temperature rises.

Thousands of people have already been evacuated due to the dangerous situation, mainly in the Orenburg region near the border with Kazakhstan.

A large part of the city of Orsk has been flooded after a protective dam broke due to the rains.

Authorities in the Orenburg region said the level of the Ural River in Orsk had dropped by nine centimeters, while water levels in the region’s central city of Orenburg, home to about 550,000 people, were approaching dangerous levels. During the day, it grew by 16 centimeters, reaching a mark of 8.72 meters above the normal level.

The Russian hydrometeorological agency “Rosgidromet” estimates that the highest water level in Orenburg will be reached on Wednesday and the flood could affect several districts of the city. The mayor of the city, Sergej Salmin, warns of unprecedented floods, which may require forced evacuation.

The authorities have also warned about rising water levels in Tobola, which may threaten Tyumen and Kurgan regions in Siberia. In Kurgan, where around 300,000 people live, preventive evacuation has started and 571 people have left their homes.