Disaster in the Orenburg region. Thousands evacuated before the flood

“4,208 people were evacuated, including 1,019 children,” the press service of Denis Pasler, governor of the Orenburg Oblast, where Orsk is located, reported on Telegram.

In a separate message, the governor said that the evacuated residents were being sent to temporary centers, including schools, and the injured people would receive financial assistance. He emphasized that the situation in the city is difficult and the “scale of damage is significant.”

Rescue teams found the bodies of three people – reports the BBC, but it is not clear whether their deaths were directly related to flooding with water from the dam.

The local prosecutor’s office reported that the floods are the result of the bursting of a dam that partially collapsed, and the situation is made worse by rainfall and melting snow in the mountains; Moreover, it was recalled that in March local authorities had received a warning in connection with “violations of the provisions on the protection of the population and territory against natural or man-made disasters”.

Read also in BUSINESS INSIDER

The mayor of Orenburg, the capital of the region, Sergei Salmin, also explained that the situation is aggravated by the fact that the water level in the Ural River is rising and may reach a critical level. Floods have recently hit the entire region and parts of neighboring Kazakhstan, explains Reuters.

“Everyone must immediately leave their homes in the flood-prone zone” before authorities have to use force against them, Salmin stressed.

A state of emergency was declared in the Orenburg Oblast, where Orsk is located, near the border with Kazakhstan. Heavy equipment and nearly 500 people are working to repair the dam, and additional rescue teams are heading to the region, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations said.

See also: Thanks to it, Putin does not have to worry about the economy. The West used to love her. “It’s hard not to like her”

The bursting of the dam in Orsk worsened the already very difficult situation caused by floods, reports the BBC, citing local authorities.

Neighboring Kazakhstan also experienced flooding; President Kasym-Jomart Tokajew said in his Saturday speech that this is “probably the biggest natural disaster in 80 years, in terms of the scale of consequences.”