In the Orenburg region of south-central Russia on the border adjacent to Kazakhstan, a dam has burst, which has been two days so far. A total of more than 6,000 houses have been affected by the flood, and more than 4,000 people have been urgently evacuated.
The authorities announced the entry into an emergency state. The Kremlin said that President Putin has ordered the minister of emergency affairs to go to Orenburg to deal with the aftermath, and a case has been filed for a criminal investigation into whether the dam that has been built for ten years involves violations of construction safety regulations. In the past week, the snow in many parts of Russia has melted rapidly, and the water level of the river channels has risen sharply, and floods have occurred in many places.
In addition, recent heavy rain in the Orenburg region has caused the water level of the Ural River flowing through the city of Orsk in the state to rise sharply to 9.6 meters, far higher than the 5.5 meters designed for the dam in the city.
The governor of Orenburg said that after evaluation by experts, it was pointed out that there are differences in the construction quality of the dam and the original diagram, coupled with the continuous rise in the water level of the river channel due to the consecutive days of heavy rain, which led to the breach of the dam. The dam breach has affected the neighboring country Kazakhstan.
President Tokayev (Kassym-Jomart Tokayev) said that this is one of the most serious natural disasters the country has experienced in 80 years, and called on Central Asian countries to lend a helping hand.
