Russia orders fresh evacuations in Siberia over flood fears

Russia orders fresh evacuations in Siberia over flood fears
by AFP Staff Writers
Moscow (AFP) April 16, 2024

Russia on Tuesday began fresh evacuations from towns and villages in western Siberia threatened by devastating floods, as Kazakh leader Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met with people evacuated from rising water on his side of the border.

Russia and Kazakhstan have been hit by the worst floods in decades, as massive rivers rise with their ice cover melting.

The floods are expected to peak this week on Siberia's Tobol and Ishim rivers.

The governor of the Tyumen region, Alexander Moor, said emergency services had begun "urgent evacuations" from towns expected to be inundated.

"Pack your valuables. Leave now for a safe place, to relatives or to a temporary accommodation centre," Moor said on social media.

In Tyumen, the level of the Ishim river reached "critical" levels of 808 centimetres in some areas, local authorities said.

Some 67,000 residents of Ishim, a town with the same name, were urged to flee via text message.

In the neighbouring Kurgan region, the level of the Tobol river rose by 111 centimetres over the last day, reaching 742 centimetres, authorities said.

The residents of 21 towns and villages have been asked to leave their homes.

Russian Emergencies Minister Alexander Kurenkov and the governor of Kurgan, Vadim Shumkov, inspected flooded regions by helicopter on Tuesday, the ministry said.

- 'National disaster' -

Kurenkov also oversaw the building of a dike on the Tobol river, saying 4,000 people -- including emergency workers and volunteers -- were taking part in building it.

"Everyone is trying to help each other: volunteers, residents of the city and people from other regions. All services are working day and night," Kurenkov said in a video published by his ministry.

In the Orenburg region, which has been at the heart of the flooding in recent days, the level of the Ural river has dropped, authorities said.

Over the past 24 hours, water has receded from around 1,000 flooded homes, regional officials said.

The town of Orsk, where the situation recently improved after heavy flooding last week, was again under threat after water overflowed from a dam.

In neighbouring Kazakhstan, President Kassym-Jomart flew over swathes of the north of the country, where Astana has said some 90,000 people have been evacuated since the floods began over a week ago.

According to his office, Tokayev told evacuees that the state will take "all necessary measures" to protect them and discussed compensation issues with them.

"We are going through difficult times. It is a national disaster," he said.

"On the other hand, there are some positive signs. Water is slowly retreating," he added.

The Kazakh leader said "the next 10 days will be the most critical", with large amounts of water still heading towards the city of Petropavlovsk.

The floods have been caused by heavy rainfall combined with rising temperatures and increased melting of snow and ice.