More than 4,000 people were evacuated from the Ural Mountains region

More than 4,000 people were evacuated from a flooded area after a dam collapsed on Friday in Russia's Orenburg region in the Ural Mountains, regional authorities said Saturday, and the incident also occurred amid thawing snow. “4,208 people were evacuated, including 1,019 children.”announced on Telegram the press service of Regional Governor Denis Basler.

In total, there were just over 2,500 homes “flooded” In this border region of Kazakhstan, they specified this in a press release.

Evacuees are being redirected “Towards temporary shelters”Dennis Bassler noted in a separate letter in which he announced exceptional financial assistance.

These large floods come the day after a dam collapsed on Friday in the city of Orsk, located on the border with neighboring Kazakhstan, according to the regional prosecutor's office, which is following up on the case.

According to this source, “warning” In Orsk City Hall in March regarding A “Violation of legislation relating to the protection of populations and territories from natural and man-made emergencies.”.

According to regional authorities, the dam, which partially collapsed, is officially designed for the level of the Ural River, the largest river in the region, to be 5.5 metres, compared to the current 9.6 metres.

Ice melting

The regional authorities, for their part, also pointed to the melting of snow that caused this “Boarding” Rivers in the region – including the Ural Mountains – such as “a reason” additional for floods.

The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations published a video of the evacuation operations, showing water entering homes, and civilians being evacuated by rescuers with their feet in the water.

According to these photos, many rescuers helped some elderly people leave their homes that were flooded with water.

These floods caused by melting snow are also affecting Kazakhstan, a country bordering Russia, prompting President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to speak out in a televised speech.

The leader spoke on Saturday “Natural disaster”, “Perhaps the largest in scale and consequence of the last 80 years.”.

“The situation is difficult, but we must not despair (…) What is important is to avoid human losses.”He confirmed this publicly“Due to the floods, a local state of emergency has been declared in ten regions of the country.”.