Local authorities in the Orenburg region of the Russian Urals urged residents of areas along the banks of the Ural River to evacuate on Friday after the river flooded villages and caused a dam to crack. Sergey Salmen, the mayor of Orenburg, stated in a video message posted on Telegram that the situation is "critical" and residents in the riverbank communities must evacuate immediately.
He said, "Do not wait for the situation to become dangerous! Leave! You must evacuate as quickly as possible." Orenburg is located 1,500 kilometers east of Moscow near the border with Kazakhstan. The mayor mentioned that 300 homes have already been inundated.
Flooding has affected mountainous areas in Siberia and the Urals in recent days, including Orenburg and neighboring parts of Kazakhstan. The Ministry of Emergency Situations announced a state of emergency in Orenburg and reported that ministry personnel have assisted 3,500 people affected by the flooding in various parts of the country over the past few days.
In the city of Orsk, located 276 kilometers east of Orenburg, a dam has cracked, threatening part of the city, which has a population of approximately 230,000. The TASS news agency reported that the Ministry of Emergency Situations indicated that around four thousand homes occupied by ten thousand residents in one suburb of Orsk could be submerged due to the dam's rupture. Local emergency services have begun evacuating residents from areas that could potentially be affected by the floods to gathering points.
Unverified footage circulating on Telegram shows water seemingly flowing through a gap in a low earthen dam near Orsk.
