Cities in Russian Urals, west Siberia brace for worst floods in decades

Moscow: The Russian city of Orenburg, near the Kazakh border, braced on Monday for flooding not seen in decades, as officials evacuated locals to esca...

Moscow: The Russian city of Orenburg, near the Kazakh border, braced on Monday for flooding not seen in decades, as officials evacuated locals to escape rising rivers in the Urals and western Siberia.

Moscow declared a federal emergency on Sunday over floods in the Orenburg region, where the Ural river left much of the city of Orsk covered in water, forcing thousands to leave their homes.

The river is now reaching dangerous levels in the regional capital of Orenburg, a city of 550,000 people.

The Kremlin has also warned of "inevitable" floods in western Siberia's Kurgan and Tyumen regions.

Thousands of people have already been evacuated from flooded areas.