Floods swamp swathes of Russia and Kazakhstan but worst still to come

ORENBURG, Russia: Floods engulfed cities and towns across Russia and Kazakhstan on Wednesday (Apr 10) after Europe's third-longest river burst its banks, forcing over 110,000 people to evacuate and swamping parts of the Russian city of Orenburg.

The deluge of meltwater overwhelmed scores of settlements in Russia's Ural Mountains, Siberia, Volga and areas of Kazakhstan after major rivers such as the Ural, which flows into the Caspian, rose beyond its bursting point to over 10m.

In Orenburg, a city with a population of 550,000 about 1,200km east of Moscow, hundreds of homes were flooded and at least 7,700 people were evacuated as the Ural river rose swiftly beyond the critical level of 9.3m.

Reuters footage showed areas near the city were underwater. In Kurgan, a region which straddles the Tobol river, 4,500 people were evacuated and fears grew that thousands - or even tens of thousands - more would need to be evacuated.

"The forecast is unfavourable," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "The water level continues to rise in flood zones, large amounts of water are coming to new regions."

The flood situation was acute in parts of Western Siberia, the largest hydrocarbon basin in the world, where the peak is expected in three to five days, and some areas around the Volga, Europe's largest river, the emergencies ministry said.

Residents in Orenburg said it was the worst flooding in living memory while Russian officials said it was the worst flooding in the area since records began. Kazakhstan said 96,000 people have been evacuated.

Russia said 10,500 houses were flooded across 37 regions, most in the Orenburg region. Upstream on the Ural, which flows into Kazakhstan, floodwaters burst through an embankment dam in the city of Orsk on Friday.

In Kazakhstan, people worked through the night to build up dykes and strengthen embankments.

A state of emergency remained in effect in eight of the country's 17 provinces, down from 10 at the end of last week.

Pope Francis expressed his sympathy for the victims.

"I also want to convey to the people of Kazakhstan my spiritual closeness at this time, when a massive flood has affected many regions of the country and caused the evacuation of thousands of people from their homes," he said during his Wednesday weekly audience in St Peter's Square.

"I invite everyone to pray for all those who are suffering the effects of this natural disaster."

RECORD FLOODING

Spring flooding is a usual part of life across Russia as the harsh winter snows melt, swelling some of the mighty rivers of Russia and Central Asia.

But a combination of factors triggered unusually severe flooding this year.

Russian emergency officials said the soil was waterlogged before winter and then was frozen under very high snowfalls which then melted quickly in rising spring temperatures and heavy rains.

One Russian official, the Presidential Plenipotentiary in the Urals Region, Vladimir Yakushev, was quoted by Russian media as suggesting that Kazakhstan was to blame for not coordinating the discharge of water more effectively.

President Vladimir Putin spoke to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan about the floods on Tuesday. The Kremlin said the worst was still to come for the Siberian region of Tyumen and the Urals region of Kurgan.

The Kremlin said Putin was getting updated on the situation but had no immediate plans to visit the flood zone.

Sirens in Kurgan, a city on the Tobol River, a tributary of the Irtysh, warned people to evacuate immediately.

Kurgan Governor Vadim Shumkov said that if the Tobol rises to 9m, then 17,800 people would have to be evacuated but if it rises to 14m then the figure would go up to 280,000 people.

The river is currently at about 9.5m in Zverinogolovkoye, the local administration said.