Rivers recede but flooding plagues thousands in central Russia

Local residents and volunteers prepare sandbags to strengthen the dam toward a flooded area in Ishim, Tyumen region, 1968 km (1230 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, April 21, 2024. The situation with floods in Russia’s Tyumen Region remains tense, with the level of water in the Ishim River having exceeded 10.5 meters. AP

MOSCOW — Water levels in some overflowing rivers in Russia were starting to drop on Monday, but flooding remains widespread, Russian state TV reports said.

More than 5,000 properties in Russia’s Kurgan region, about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) east of Moscow along the border with Kazakhstan, are flooded, according to the Russian Emergencies Ministry, and 15,000 people have been evacuated.

In the Orenburg region, water levels in the Ural River have been steadily decreasing for three days, but 12,000 residences remain flooded, the ministry said.

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More than 3,000 people have been evacuated due to flooding in the Tyumen region, where emergency workers continue to monitor the condition of dams. Supplies of sandbags are being distributed to try to hold back floodwaters.

Kazakh authorities earlier this month declared a state of emergency in 10 out of 17 regions of the country, according to Russia’s state news agency Tass.

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Seven people have died due to floods, according to Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry, and thousands of houses have been flooded.

Experts have cited multiple possible causes of the floods. Large snow reserves in the area melting, deep freezing of the soil which doesn’t allow it to absorb rain or melting snow and a massive release of water from a reservoir.