Floods in the Ural Mountains are increasingly affecting residents of Russia and northern Kazakhstan, according to figures provided by local authorities to international news agencies on Tuesday. In Kazakhstan, more than 114,000 residents have already been evacuated, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations. On the other side of the border, in Russia, about 16,500 people had to leave their homes, according to the governor of the Orenburg region.
Due to heavy rains and a lot of meltwater caused by a sudden rise in temperatures, two dams collapsed last week near the Russian border town of Orsk. As a result, an increasingly large area of the Ural Mountains was flooded. 14,500 homes have already been flooded. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Tuesday visited Petropavlovsk, a city in the affected region from which more than 10,000 residents have already been evacuated. The president described the floods as a “national disaster.”
On the Russian side of the border, the authorities' lax stance sparked protests among residents. For example, just before a dam breach occurred, the mayor of Orsk claimed that there was no risk of flooding.
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