Thousands flee flooding in southern Russia

Thousands flee flooding in southern Russia
by AFP Staff Writers
Orenburg, Russia (AFP) April 13, 2024

Russian emergency services on Saturday said they had evacuated thousands of people from the southern regions bordering Kazakhstan as flood water continued to rise.

Fast-rising temperatures have melted snow and ice, and along with heavy rain have caused a number of major rivers that pass through Russia and Kazakhstan to overflow this month.

In the city of Orenburg, one of the worst affected areas in Russia, the Ural River has breached its banks, submerging streets and residential areas and water levels continued to rise Saturday.

On Saturday afternoon, the river level reached almost 12 metres (39 feet), more than 2.5 metres above the level considered critical.

Regional governor Denis Pasler said in a press release Sunday evening that "as of today the situation remains complex. In Orenburg the flood is at the maximum peak."

The Ural River flows through the centre of Orenburg.

Flood water covered the embankment promenade and swirled around houses and an high-rise apartment blocks built close to the river, an AFP journalist saw.

More than 13,000 people have been evacuated from Orenburg and the surrounding region and more than 11,000 homes have been flooded, according to the emergency situations ministry.

Eldar Rakhmetov, a ministry official involved in the evacuation, told AFP that in Orenburg "there has been an increase in the number of homes flooded since this morning and more areas are being evacuated."

Local residents were using rubber dinghies to try to retrieve pets and belongings from flooded houses and some areas were left without power.

Valery, 64, a local factory worker, was one of those evacuated Saturday by a police truck.

"The most important thing is that (my house) does not get looted. That is what I am worried about. Other than that, it is fine! We will survive," he said.

- 'Evacuate urgently!' -

The emergency situations ministry said that in the Kurgan region further east, the level of the Tobol River was continuing to rise steeply and more than 6,000 people had been evacuated.

The governor, Vadim Shumkov, urged residents likely to be affected to leave now.

"The water is treacherous and when there is so much of it, it rises unpredictably," Shumkov warned on Telegram, urging people to leave with valuables and pets.

"My fellow Kurgan people, you must evacuate urgently. Urgently!" the governor posted later.

In Kazakhstan, which shares around 7,500 kilometres (4,660 miles) of border with Russia, flooding has reached the outskirts of the northern city of Petropavlovsk, which has around 220,000 residents, causing problems with power and mains water supply.

More than 102,000 people, many of them children, have been evacuated in the vast Central Asian country, where almost 4,000 homes are still flooded, according to the emergency situations ministry.

Climate change due to global warming is associated with more frequent extreme weather events such as floods.

In the Russian city of Orsk in the Orenburg region, where a dam protecting the city from flooding broke this month, residents held rare protests this week over the local authorities' handling of the crisis.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting on the floods on Thursday but has not visited the affected regions.

'The water is coming': Russians flee flooded homes
Orenburg, Russia (AFP) April 13, 2024 - Alexander Budargin, 25, stood outside his block of flats in the Russian city of Orenburg with knee-deep water lapping in the courtyard, wondering whether it was time to leave.

In this city in the southern Urals about a hundred kilometres from the border with Kazakhstan, Budargin was one of many residents watching anxiously as water levels in the Ural River continued to rise inexorably.

This is one of several major rivers flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan that have breached their banks this month, causing widespread flooding.

Thousands have had to flee their homes and further evacuations are continuing, carried out by rescue services and police.

"The situation is difficult right now. My parents' house was almost completely flooded yesterday," said Budargin, who works in logistics.

"The neighbours sent a video showing that the house was underwater, almost up to the level of the roof."

His parents had packed some belongings and come to stay with him. But the Ural River levels continued to rise and are now threatening Budargin's home, too.

His flat is on an upper floor but the whole building is now surrounded by water that in places is knee-high.

Now officials have announced evacuation of the new residential complex where he lives.

"Unfortunately the water is coming closer to us too," he said.

"The situation is difficult right now... I don't know how the situation will develop further."

His area of the city has also been cut off by flooding and he can safely reach dry areas of the city only by boat or in a specialised rescue vehicle.

In some parts of the city, only the stop signs sticking out of the water show the routes of roads.

Valery, 64, was evacuated Saturday morning, and like most residents, appeared calm and stoical.

"The most important thing is that (my house) does not get looted. That is what I am worried about. Other than that, it is fine! We will survive," he said.

Police were rescuing residents like him in trucks with high wheel bases that can drive through water.

In some areas, locals were able to wade through the water in rubber boots, loaded with children, suitcases and pet carriers.

Meanwhile in other areas of the city, public transport continued to operate and some shops were open.

Some residents not affected personally had come to gaze at the flood waters and at the rescue operation.

- 'Not since 1942' -

"There's been nothing like this since 1942," said Dmitry Surnachev, a 62-year-old designer who came to see the flooding.

"Of course I feel sorry for people," he said. But he said the situation was made worse by building homes on the flood plain, which "is not allowed, and has never been allowed".

Anatoly, a 65-year-old retiree, was busy measuring the water level, finding that according to his calculations, it had risen 15 cm overnight.

"I've lived here for 42 years", he said, witnessing three major floods.

"But this is the biggest."

Fast-rising temperatures have swiftly melted snow and ice floating on rivers, which have also been swelled by heavy rain.

On Saturday afternoon, the river level in Orenburg reached almost 12 metres (39 feet), more than 2.5 metres above the level considered critical.

In neighbouring Kazakhstan, more than 100,000 residents have been evacuated. Russia has not given a total figure for all the affected regions, but at least 20,000 have had to flee homes in the Orenburg and Kurgan regions.