Russia and Kazakhstan ordered more than 100,000 people to evacuate after swiftly melting snow swelled mighty rivers beyond bursting point in the worst flooding in the area for at least 70 years.
The deluge of melt water overwhelmed scores of settlements in the Ural Mountains, Siberia and areas of Kazakhstan close to rivers such as the Ural and Tobol, which local officials said had risen by meters in a matter of hours to the highest levels ever recorded.
Late on Tuesday, levels of the Ural River in Orenburg, a city of around 550,000, reached 9.31 meters, exceeding the critical level of 9.30 meters, the regional governor said. He urged residents in areas at risk to evacuate.