Local authorities in the region of Orenburg urged residents to evacuate riverside areas on Friday.
The region’s capital, also called Orenburg, lies 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) east of Moscow, near the border with .
A number of provinces in Siberia and along the Ural Mountains that divide Asia and Europe, as well as parts of Kazakhstan, have been grappling with flooding in recent days.
Emergencies ministry personnel had helped around 3,500 people affected by flooding throughout Russia.
What do we know about the flooding in the Orenburg region?
The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations said that a state of emergency had been declared in the Orenburg region.
Orenburg Mayor Sergey Salmin said the situation was “critical.”
“Don’t wait for the situation to become threatening! Leave! You need to evacuate as quickly as possible,” he said.
The mayor said that 300 houses had already been flooded.
In the city of Orsk, 276 kilometers (171 miles) east of Orenburg city, a dam burst. The breach could cause the of up to 4,000 houses accommodating 10,000 people in a suburb of Orsk, according to state news agency TASS.
Orsk also lies in the Orenburg region and is adjacent to the Kazakhstan border.
According to Russia’s Interfax news agency, rescuers are working to repair the dam in Orsk, which has a population of 220,000.
Russian authorities said that more than 1,800 homes in 95 localities had been flooded.
sdi/wd (Reuters, AFP)
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