Kremlin warns floods may worsen as Kazakhstan, Russia evacuate 100,000
Al Jazeera
Water levels on rivers in Russia and Kazakhstan continue to rise and flood whole villages and cities, with more than 100,000 people evacuated and the Kremlin warning a “very, very tense” situation was expected to worsen.
Fast-melting snow and ice has caused rivers in Russia’s southern Urals, western Siberia as well as northern Kazakhstan to reach unprecedented heights, threatening major cities.
Moscow and Astana have been battling the rising rivers for more than five days, with both declaring a state of emergency and saying the floods were the worst in decades. “The situation is very, very tense,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “The water is continuing to rise. Large [amounts of] water are coming to new regions.”
Peskov said President Vladimir Putin thus far had no plans to visit the flood zone, saying he was being briefed all the time.
Neighbouring Kazakhstan on Wednesday said that it had evacuated 96,272 people since the start of the floods – a figure 10,000 higher than the day before.
