MOSCOW: Russia’s government has declared on Sunday flood-hit areas in the Orenburg region a federal emergency, state media reported.
The floods, caused by rising water levels in the Ural River, forced over 4,000 people, including 885 children, to evacuate, the regional government said. State news agency Tass said that a further 2,000 homes were flooded, bringing the total to nearly 6,300 in the region.
Russia’s Emergency Situations Minister Alexander Kurenko varrived arrived in Orsk — one of the hardest-hit cities — on Sunday to supervise rescue operations.