More homes flooded in Russian region bordering Kazakhstan as river levels rise

Nearly 14,500 homes have been flooded in a Russian region bordering Kazakhstan after water levels spiked in a river, local authorities said.

The floods sparked the evacuation of thousands in the region of Orenburg, located some 745 miles south-east of the capital Moscow, after a dam on the Ural burst last week under the pressure of surging waters.

Local authorities have classified the deluge as an emergency of federal importance, and more than 16,500 people have been evacuated from the flooded areas, the office of the Orenburg governor said on Tuesday.

In the city of Orenburg, the region’s capital, some 5,500 houses remain flooded as water levels in the River Ural in the city gradually decrease, according to officials.

The situation is more dire in the south-west of the region near the Kazakh border, where authorities said the river has risen to a dangerous level in the town of Ilek.

Further east along the border, floods also hit the regions of Kurgan and Tyumen after water levels rose in local rivers.

Russian emergency officials said on Tuesday that more than 300 homes have been flooded in Kurgan. In both the Kurgan and Tyumen provinces, evacuations from areas that may be flooded are under way.

In neighbouring Kazakhstan, massive floods have prompted the evacuation of more than 113,000 people to date, Kazakh emergency officials said.

As of Tuesday, more than 5,700 houses remain flooded there, officials said.