Ice jams are being blown up in the regions and residents are being evacuated after floods

Russian regions continue to prepare for extreme floods and eliminate their consequences. In the Orenburg region, 10 thousand residential buildings and 18 thousand garden plots were flooded, and in Orenburg itself, the water level in the Ural River remained only 16 cm below the critical level of 9.3 m on Tuesday. In Kurgan, where authorities expect the water level to rise in Tobole to a record 11 m, several villages are being evacuated. Meanwhile, in the Oryol region, 14 bridges have already been flooded, and in Bashkiria, blasting work was carried out on two rivers in areas with ice jams.

April 9 in several microdistricts Orenburg sirens sounded. As the head of the city, Sergei Salmin, explained, this is not a drill, but a sign of an extremely dangerous flood situation in Orenburg. The water level in the Ural River rose sharply to 914 cm above the zero level of the nearest hydrological station and continues to rise. The dangerous value remains 16 cm, Mr. Salmin said. The official called on residents of several neighborhoods and gardening communities to evacuate “without wasting time”: “Right now we need to collect documents and valuables.” In total, 10 thousand residential buildings and 18 thousand garden plots were flooded in the region; the peak of the flood in the regional center is expected on April 10. “Emergency evacuation may be announced in the coming hours,” said Sergei Salmin, calling for children, the elderly and disabled, and animals to be removed from the flood zone in advance. According to the regional government, a total of five temporary accommodation centers (TACs) with 534 beds have been deployed in Orenburg.

The head of Orsk, the region’s second largest city, Vasily Kozupitsa said that the peak of the flood in the city had passed, but the situation “remains difficult.” 6.4 thousand people were evacuated from flooded households and personal plots, of which 1.5 thousand were placed in temporary temporary accommodation. In total, more than 15 thousand applications were received from residents of the region through the government services portal, including more than 10 thousand for the provision of one-time financial assistance, the rest were for assistance with the loss of property.

They are anxiously awaiting the arrival of water and Kurgan, where a regional emergency was previously declared. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation, more than 60 settlements are at risk, part of the regional center and adjacent gardening communities. In total, more than 19 thousand people live in these territories, there are over 4.3 thousand houses and 5 thousand household plots and summer cottages. The head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation, Alexander Kurenkov, arrived in the region and went to fly around the region in a helicopter together with the Presidential Envoy to the Urals Federal District Vladimir Yakushev and Governor Vadim Shumkov. Mr. Kurenkov instructed to open a telephone hotline with information about evacuation and the work of temporary accommodation centers, and also announced that additional groups of the Ministry of Emergency Situations from five regions of the Russian Federation were sent to Kurgan. So far, the water has risen the highest, up to 8 m, in the Zverinogolovsky district of the region (more than 1.5 m in one day), 555 people in the municipality have been evacuated. But the forecast is getting worse: authorities expect the water level in the Tobol to rise to a record 11 m. In 1994, when the river level rose over 10 m, several roads, dams and bridges were destroyed, 114 settlements were flooded, and 200 thousand residents suffered material damage . Now Kurgan authorities expect that over 30 road bridges and a railway bridge near the Kamchikha station may be under water. Some roads in Kurgan and the region are already closed due to the risk of flooding. However, so far in the regional center the level of the Tobol is 3.4 m (in one day the water rose by 38 cm). According to officials, 92 temporary accommodation points have been deployed in the Kurgan region at schools, hospitals and camps. The regional department of Rospotrebnadzor recommended that residents stock up on drinking water in case its quality deteriorates due to floods.

IN Tyumen regions where a state of emergency has been preventively declared, the dam on the Ishim River is being strengthened, 400 temporary temporary installations have been prepared. The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations promised to send Mi-26 helicopters to the region to evacuate people and deliver goods. A significant increase in water levels in the region is expected in three to five days. IN Sverdlovsk Regional authorities check all dams and dams and continuously measure the water level in reservoirs, assured First Deputy Governor Alexey Shmykov. IN Voronezh region, the regional department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported the threat of a breakthrough of the lower dam of the Kirov pond, 70 km from the regional center. IN Orlovskaya 14 low-water bridges were flooded in the region. IN Bashkiria in 19 municipalities, more than 1.1 thousand house and garden plots, 15 road sections and 12 low-water bridges were flooded. Blasting work was carried out on the Bolshoi Avzyan and Ai rivers to minimize the consequences of ice jams, the regional administration reported.

Correspondent network “Kommersant”; Ivan Tyazhlov