Russia warned on Monday of possible new floods in two regions of western Siberia, while evacuations continue after devastating floods on a scale not seen in decades.
“The water is going to the regions of Kurgan and Tyumen
,” located beyond the Urals, in western Siberia, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said at a press briefing.
“Major work has already been carried out there, but we know that water is insidious and the danger of flooding over large areas is therefore present
,” he said. The peak
“is expected in the middle of the week when the waters will touch the territories of Kurgan and Tyumen
,” added Mr. Peskov.
The level of the Tobol River in the Kurgan region, where a partial evacuation was declared on Monday, rose by 42 cm in 6 hours this morning, reaching 673 cm, local authorities announced on Telegram. On Telegram, the governor, Vadim Shumkov, said that a
“colossal”
amount of water was heading towards the city of Kurgan, the capital of the region, and called for the evacuation of residents of the city living in areas with risk along the river. Floods on the Ishim River in the neighboring Tyumen region, where a state of emergency has been in place for a week, risk exceeding all forecasts, Governor Alexander Moor said.
“A forced evacuation is envisaged”
for more than 7,300 inhabitants of the region populating around fifty localities, according to Mr. Moore.
The level of the Ural River is falling
On the other hand, the level of the Ural River began to fall in the Orenburg region, the first to be affected by the disaster, and fell by 14 cm in 24 hours. Russian Emergency Situations Minister Alexander Kurenkov arrived in Orsk, in the Orenburg region, on Monday for the third time since the April 5 breach of a dike that led to thousands of evacuations.
He must take stock of the situation in this city of 220,000 inhabitants where several hundred people demonstrated on April 8 to demand accountability from the authorities. Floods are caused by intense rain associated with rising temperatures and increased melting of snow and ice. According to scientists, global warming is favoring extreme weather events like heavy precipitation.