Local authorities in the city of Orsk rushed this Friday morning to decree a mass evacuation of the area, as the rising waters of the Ural River flooded villages and were about to cause the dam located about a mile away to break. kilometers north of this mountain town in the Russian Urals, local emergency services sources told the agencies.
"The situation is critical" and residents along the river should evacuate "immediately," Orenburg Mayor Sergei Salmin said in a message via Telegram and reported by Reuters.
"Do not wait for the situation to become threatening! Leave! It is necessary to evacuate as quickly as possible," added the mayor.
In this sense. The state news agency TASS cited the Ministry of Emergencies about the communication to evacuate the 4,258 houses and 10,928 residents of Orsk, which could evacuate a large part of the region's 230,000 inhabitants, could be flooded as a result of the rupture of The prey.
"A part of the city's dam has overflowed, so the evacuation of the city is being carried out," local authorities informed the Russian agency.
For his part. Local emergency services said they were working to evacuate residents and shore up the dam in Orsk, which is about 1,800 kilometers east of Moscow, bordering the border with Kazakhstan. Russian media reported that local authorities had set up six evacuation points for residents. And, in turn, rescuers and municipal workers were shoring up the dam's structure and dealing with the consequences of its rupture.
Following the announcement of the break, a state of emergency was declared in the Orenburg region, according to the Ministry of Emergencies. In the rains this week, help has been provided to some 3,500 people affected by floods throughout the country, including the region they are evacuating this Friday, according to ministry sources told Reuters.
