Thousands Flee Homes in Russia, Kazakhstan Amid Worst Flooding in Region’s Recorded History

The flooded part of the city of Orsk in Orenburg region, southeast of the southern tip of the Ural Mountains, Russia, on April 8, 2024. Russia said on April 8 that more than 10,000 residential buildings were flooded across the Urals, Volga area, and western Siberia as emergency services evacuated cities threatened by rising rivers. Anatoliy Zhdanov/Kommersant Photo/AFP via Getty Images

Several rivers in southern Russia and northern Kazakhstan burst their banks this week, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes amid the region’s worst spring flooding in decades.

According to Russia’s TASS news agency, more than 13,000 homes in south-central parts of the country have been partly or entirely inundated with water.

Floodwaters “came very quickly at night,” said Taisiya, a 71-year-old resident of the Russian city of Orenburg, located 750 miles east of Moscow.

“By the time I got ready, I couldn’t get out,” she told Reuters on April 11.

Spring floods occur annually in south-central Russia, where melting snows cause water levels to rise in the region’s many river systems.

But Orenburg residents describe this year’s floods as the worst in living memory.

Russian officials have said that the flooding is the worst since the government began taking records.

“Water levels continue to rise in flood zones, and vast amounts of water are headed toward other regions,” a Kremlin spokesman said on April 10.

In Orenburg, which boasts a total population of a little more than half a million, at least 7,700 residents have had to vacate their homes.

According to Orenburg’s regional government, water levels are unlikely to return to normal until April 25 at the earliest.

‘Difficult and Tense’ Situation

Late last week, melting ice from central Russia’s Ural mountain range caused water levels to rise precipitously in several of the region’s largest rivers.

Since then, steadily rising waters have overwhelmed river banks, forcing residents in several cities to flee their homes with whatever belongings they could carry.

“An estimated 2,000 local homes have been inundated,” Orenburg Mayor Sergey Salmin told reporters on the morning of April 11.

He went on to describe the situation in the city as “difficult and tense.”

Forming part of the geographic boundary between Asia and Europe, the Ural Mountains run north to south from the Arctic Ocean to northern Kazakhstan.

Local officials say advancing floodwaters have already submerged entire districts of Orenburg, which sits on the bank of the Ural River.

Roughly 1,500 miles in length, the Ural River is Europe’s third-longest river. It flows through both Russia and next-door Kazakhstan before emptying into the Caspian Sea.

On April 10, the water level in the Ural River rose to more than 33 feet—more than two feet above its bursting point.

According to Russia’s civil defense and emergencies ministry, two military transport planes delivered 90 tons of aid to the flood-hit city of Orsk on April 11.

The second-largest city in the Orenburg region, Orsk is located roughly 60 miles southeast of the southern tip of the Ural mountain range.

Water levels have also risen in the Siberian city of Tomsk near the Tom River and in Russia’s southern city of Kurgan, which sits astride the Tobol River and shares a border with Kazakhstan.

According to local officials, roughly 4,500 residents have been forced to vacate their homes in Kurgan.

On the evening of April 10, Vadim Shumkov, Kurgan’s regional governor, said the city was threatened by water surges from reservoirs that emptied into the river.

“Water surges are following the [river’s] current,” he wrote in a social media post.

“And the surges from the reservoirs aren’t slowing down.”

According to TASS, Russia’s south-central regions of Tyumen, Tver, Kostroma, Kemerovo, and Altai are also at risk of widespread flooding.

Rising water levels have also been reported in some areas along the Volga, Europe’s longest river, which also runs through south-central Russia.

Residents in the flooded settlement of Pokrovka, in northern Kazakhstan close to the border with Russia, on April 9, 2024. Water levels in overflowing rivers were still rising on April 9 in swaths of Russia and Kazakhstan that have been hit by massive floods. Evgeniy Lukyanov/AFP via Getty Images

97,000 Flee Homes in Kazakhstan

The spring floods have also affected 10 out of 17 regions of Kazakhstan, which shares a lengthy border with Russia’s flood-hit Orenburg region.

On April 11, Kazakhstan’s emergency ministry reported that the total number of evacuees was more than 97,000 nationwide.

A government-imposed state of emergency remains in effect in at least eight regions.

According to the Kazakh government, movement remains severely restricted on hundreds of miles of roads and highways in the country’s northernmost areas.

Kazakhstan, a member of the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, is reportedly coordinating relief efforts with the Russian authorities.

On April 10, Pope Francis voiced sympathy for the Central Asian country’s plight.

“I want to convey to the people of Kazakhstan my spiritual closeness at this time, when a massive flood has affected many regions of the country and caused the evacuation of thousands of people,” the pontiff said in his weekly address.

Reuters contributed to this report.