In Orsk, a dam on the Ural River burst

On Friday evening in Orsk, a bulk dam on the Ural River broke, which led to partial flooding of the city. Before the breakthrough in the region, due to floods, the largest release of water was made from the Iriklinsky reservoir, and the head of Orsk, Vasily Kozupitsa, assured that the dam should withstand the release. Nevertheless, the water quickly flooded the territory of the Old City: over 4 thousand houses, where 11 thousand people live, were in the flood zone. The authorities began evacuating residents of Orsk. Later, the mayor of Orenburg, located 250 km west of the dam, also called for the evacuation of a number of areas.

The Orsk administration announced the evacuation of residents “due to the threat of a dam break” on April 5 at 20:00 Moscow time. The city of 200 thousand is divided into two parts by the Ural River, the banks of which were protected by embankment dams in 2014. At 20:30 TASS reported a breakthrough of the lower dam protecting the left bank part of Orsk – the Old Town (mainly built up with private housing). Eyewitness videos published by the anonymous Telegram channel “112” (which regularly publishes footage of security forces’ actions) show that a significant gully has formed in the embankment dam. “That’s it, we’re off, mommy,” says a woman’s voice off-screen. “A dam break threatens, first of all, the private sector of Orsk: up to 4 thousand houses, in which up to 10 thousand people can live, could fall into the flooding zone,” they reported TASS in operational services.

Two hours after the dam broke, the Orsk administration reported that more than 4.2 thousand houses and almost 11 thousand people were in the flood zone.

The press service of the city administration reported that residents are being evacuated by bus to temporary accommodation centers in local schools, and 50 rescuers with watercraft are working on site. The press service of the regional Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that 200 police officers were sent to the flooding zone to maintain law and order and assist the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The prosecutor’s office of the Orenburg region clarified that residents of two of the three districts of Orsk – Leninsky and Sovetsky – are subject to evacuation. At 4:00 the Orsk mayor’s office announced that the entire residential sector of the Old Town would soon be flooded and called on residents to urgently evacuate.

Due to warming in the Orenburg region, the water level has risen sharply. In the territory of 95 settlements in the region, 1,825 residential buildings and 5,242 household plots were flooded. According to local authorities, as early as April 3, 790 cubic meters of water per second were discharged from the Iriklinsky reservoir, but on April 4 this figure increased to 1,672 cubic meters per second, and on April 5 – to 2,170 cubic meters per second. A regional emergency regime has been introduced in the Orenburg region.

At the same time, the critically dangerous water level in the Urals of 700 cm in the Orsk region was overcome the previous night. On the morning of April 5, according to local authorities, the water in the Urals was at a level of 774 cm, and by lunchtime it had risen to 820 cm. According to local media, the water has not yet risen to such levels since the dam was put into operation in 2014. It is noteworthy that back on April 4, the head of Orsk, Vasily Kozupitsa, assured that the dam was designed to discharge more than 2.5 thousand cubic meters per second. “I’m sure that she will withstand the load that will come here,” he said.

After the dam broke, the press service of the governor of the Orenburg region made it clear that it was “not a hydraulic structure,” but only protected the roadway of the local road. “There is a private sector there, it is regularly flooded. People were invited in advance to evacuate, some were preventively evacuated during the day,” the governor’s press service added. The Orsk mayor’s office reported that they had prepared six temporary accommodation centers for city residents in advance.

Meanwhile, the mayor of the regional center of Orenburg (located approximately 250 km from Orsk) Sergei Salmin called for the residents of his city to evacuate from the area of ​​possible flooding.

The mayor released a video message in which he called the situation critical and promised to cut off electricity and gas supplies in some areas of the city. “It is very serious. The situation is critical. In just one day, the water level in the Urals increased by 91 cm and now stands at 778 cm. This is already above the unfavorable value, and the water continues to rise,” the mayor said. Mr. Salmin urged residents of several districts of Orenburg to take documents, valuables and animals, and then go to their relatives and friends or to a temporary temporary detention facility as soon as possible.

Alexander Voronov