 Satellite image of the city of Orsk during the flood (as of 11 April 2024) | |
| Date | April 5 (dam collapse) |
|---|---|
| Duration | April 5 - ongoing (flooding) |
| Deaths | 5 [1] |
| Non-fatal injuries | 9 |
| Missing | 2 |
On 5 April 2024, the Orsk Dam collapsed due to flooding along the Ural River, [2] prompting evacuations. At least six people were injured and damage was estimated to be around 1.2 billion rubles (US$12.9 million). [3]
The Orsk Dam was built in 2010 and was built for a water level of 5.5 metres (18 ft). At the time of its collapse, torrential rain was recorded in the area, while melting snow helped push water levels in the Ural River to 9.6 metres (31 ft). [4] [5]
The Orsk Dam collapsed in the evening of 5 April, causing evacuations. [2] Officials in the downstream city of Orsk said that the situation was rapidly worsening, and the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called it the country’s worst natural disaster in the last 80 years. [6] The governor of Orenburg Oblast, Denis Pasler, also described the floods as the worst to hit the region in its history. [3] In Orsk, areas heavily affected by the flooding included the Old Town, Nikel and Lesotorgovy. The dam was again breached on 6 and 7 April. [7] [8]
On 7 April, the Russian government declared a federal emergency as the Orsk oil refinery shut down, adding that flooding was also expected in Kurgan and Tyumen Oblasts. Some estimate that the floods caused about $227 million in damages. [3] The Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring said that the water levels in Orenburg city could dangerous levels in the next three days. The government also said that the local hydraulic stations showed an "abnormal increase in water levels" not seen in 100 years. Orenburg's mayor Sergei Salmin also threatened to implement forced evacuations. [9] Elsewhere in Orenburg Oblast, 127 people were evacuated after floods inundated 304 homes in Buzuluk, while in Buzuluksky District, a bridge over the Borovka River was washed away, isolating settlements in the Buzuluksky Bor National Park. A separate dam was breached in Novotroitsk, prompting evacuations. [7]
On 8 April, hundreds of people protested against the local authorities in Orsk, accusing them of having built a poorly constructed dam for too much money. Protesters shouted "shame, shame" and "Putin, help us". [10] The mayor of Orsk, Vasiliy Kozupitsa, met with residents and promised to provide financial support to flood victims, and increase security to prevent theft in the affected areas of the city. [11] The Insider reported that many flood victims complained of robberies by marauders, despite the promises by the authorities in Orsk to increase security in the city. [12] Residents and volunteers said that the security promised earlier by the authorities was instead used to protect the city's government buildings and politicians from protestors rather than residential areas from robberies. [13]
On 10 April, mayor Salmin published a warning on his Telegram channel that at 19:00 local time, sirens will ring throughout Orenburg to warn citizens to evacuate due to the water levels likely reaching the predicted peak of 930 centimetres (30.5 ft), risking the flooding of areas beyond Orsk. [14] More than 300 residences in the city were flooded. [15] Mass evacuations in the Orenburg were ordered on 12 April [16] after Salmin warned that flooding in the city was expected to peak on that day before receding in the following week. By then, more than 7,500 properties in the city had been flooded. [17]
The failure of the Orsk Dam caused over 1 billion rubles in damage, and 10,000 homes were flooded. Over 4,000 people were evacuated from the area. The Russian government declared a federal emergency. [3] [18] There were also reports of 15 schools being flooded and three children and six adults being injured, but not severely. [18] Authorities said they expected the flood to reach its peak on 9 April before "stabilising" after 20 April. [19]
Four people were initially reported to have died. However, the Russian health ministry later clarified that the fatalities had "nothing to do with the floods". [20] On 17 April, the Russian investigative news outlet iStories reported that six people had died from the floods in Orsk while another died in Orenburg, citing relatives of the victims who also accused authorities of withholding the circumstances of their deaths to avoid making compensation payments. [21]
Presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that President Vladimir Putin had no plans to visit the area, [22] adding that Putin was instead "getting information and co-ordinated the work of all branches of authorities". [23]
On 8 April, residents of Orsk staged protests in the city's central square over insufficient compensation provided by the local government for damages and the failure to fix the structural deficiencies of the dam. Demonstrators also appealed for an intervention from President Putin, who ordered a government commission to oversee the response to the disaster [24] and deployed Emergencies Minister Alexander Kurenkov to Orenburg Oblast. [3] In response, the governor of Orenburg Oblast, Denis Pasler, promised to provide monthly compensation payments of 10,000 rubles (approximately $108) for six months to displaced residents. [25] The Investigative Committee of Russia also opened a criminal investigation into the collapse focusing on violations of construction safety regulations and negligence. [2] Vaccinations against hepatitis A were also conducted. [5]
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un offered his condolences and said that "Our people will always be with the Russian people." [3] [18]
The Ural, also known as the Yaik, is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan in the continental border between Europe and Asia. It originates in the southern Ural Mountains and discharges into the Caspian Sea. At 2,428 kilometres (1,509 mi), it is the third-longest river in Europe after the Volga and the Danube, and the 18th-longest river in Asia. The Ural is conventionally considered part of the boundary between the continents of Europe and Asia.
Chelyabinsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia in the Ural Mountains region, on the border of Europe and Asia. Its administrative center is the city of Chelyabinsk.
Orenburg Oblast is a federal subject of Russia, mainly located in Eastern Europe. Its administrative center is the city of Orenburg. From 1938 to 1957, it bore the name Chkalov Oblast in honor of Valery Chkalov. As of the 2021 Census, the city has population of 1,862,767.
Orenburg, formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia and former capital of the Kazak ASSR. It lies on Eastern Europe, on the banks of the Ural River, where it forms the boundary between Europe and Asia, and is 1,478 kilometers (918 mi) southeast of Moscow.
Orsk is the second largest city in Orenburg Oblast, Russia, located on the steppe about 100 kilometers (62 mi) southeast of the southern tip of the Ural Mountains. The city straddles the Ural River. Population: 239,800 (2010 Census); 250,963 (2002 Census); 270,711 (1989 Soviet census). It lies adjacent to the Kazakhstan–Russia border.
Ural Economic Region is one of twelve economic regions of Russia. This prominent industrial region consists of the following subdivisions : Bashkortostan (Ufa), Chelyabinsk Oblast (Chelyabinsk), Kurgan Oblast (Kurgan), Orenburg Oblast (Orenburg), Perm Krai (Perm), Sverdlovsk Oblast (Yekaterinburg) and Udmurt Republic (Izhevsk). It is mostly located in the Central, and partly in the Southern and Northern parts of the Urals, but also includes parts of the East European and West Siberian Plains. Its extent is different from that of the Ural Federal District; Bashkortostan, Orenburg Oblast, Perm Krai and Udmurtia are in the Volga Federal District while the other three are in the Ural Federal District.
The Ilek is a river in the Aktobe Region, Kazakhstan, and Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It is 149 kilometres (93 mi) long, and has a drainage basin of 13,700 square kilometres (5,300 sq mi).
Novotroitsk is a town in Orenburg Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of and along the Ural River, 276 kilometers (171 mi) from Orenburg, on the border with Kazakhstan. In the east Novotroitsk almost borders Orsk: the distance between the two cities is less than 2 kilometers (1.2 mi). Population: 98,173 (2010 Census); 106,315 (2002 Census); 106,084 (1989 Soviet census).
Ural is a geographical region located around the Ural Mountains, between the East European and West Siberian plains. It is considered a part of the Eurasian Steppe, extending approximately from the North to the South; from the Arctic Ocean to the end of the Ural River near Orsk city. The border between Europe and Asia runs along the Eastern side of the Ural Mountains. Ural mostly lies within Russia but also includes a small part of Northwestern Kazakhstan. This is historical, not an official entity, with borders overlapping its Western Volga and Eastern Siberia neighboring regions. At some point in the past, parts of the currently existing Ural region were considered a gateway to Siberia, or even Siberia itself, and were combined with the Volga administrative the divisions. Today, there are two official namesake entities: the Ural Federal District and the Ural economic region. While the latter follows the historical borders, the former is a political product; the District omits Western Ural and includes Western Siberia instead.
The Or is a river in Orenburg Oblast of Russia and Aktobe Province of Kazakhstan. It is a left tributary of the Ural, and is 332 km long, with a drainage basin of 18 600 km2. The river is formed by the confluence of the rivers Shiyli and Terisbutak, which have their sources on the western slopes of the Mugodzhar Hills, and it joins the Ural by the city of Orsk. Most of its discharge are from melting snow. The average discharge, 61 km from its mouth, is 21.3 m3/sek. The spring flooding lasts from April to mid-May. The rest of the year the waterlevel is very low. The river freezes in late October and is icebound until March – April. The river is used for irrigation and water supply.
The Kazakhstan–Russia border is the 7,644-kilometre (4,750 mi) international border between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation. It is the longest continuous international border in the world and the second longest by total length, after the Canada–United States border. It is in the same location as the former administrative-territorial border between the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
Buzuluksky Bor National Park encompasses the Buzuluk Pine Forest, which is the largest grove of isolated high pine trees in the world. It is surrounded by steppes on the East European Plain east of the Volga River and west of the foothills running up to the southern Urals. This makes it an important habitat for scientific study, and is the site of the earliest forest management area in Russia. It is about 70 miles east from the city of Samara, Russia, and 15 km north of the town of Buzuluk, Orenburg Oblast.
Saratov Airlines Flight 703 was a domestic passenger flight from Moscow Domodedovo Airport to Orsk Airport in Russia. On 11 February 2018, the aircraft serving the flight, an Antonov An-148-100B, crashed shortly after take-off, killing all 71 people on board – 65 passengers and six crew members.
The Orenburg Independent Army was an anti-Bolshevik Army on the Eastern Front during the Russian Civil War.
Valeriy Nikolayevich Andreev, known as the Orsk Maniac, is a Russian serial killer and rapist responsible for the abductions, rapes and killings of various girls and women in Orenburg Oblast from 2006 to 2012. Investigators have conclusively tied him to at least 7 murders, after which he was put on a wanted list, but managed to escape. As of 2023, he remains one of the twelve most dangerous criminals wanted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. In total, police suspect his involvement in the disappearances of more than 100 girls and women.
Aleksandr Borisovich Kogan is a Russian political figure and deputy of the 8th State Duma. In 2005, he was granted a Candidate of Sciences in Economics degree.
On 21 September 2022, seven months into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia declared a partial mobilization of military reservists. The decision was made a day after the announcement of the Russian annexation of the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
Events in the year 2024 in Russia.
The 2024 Orenburg Oblast gubernatorial election took place on 6–8 September 2024, on common election day. Incumbent Governor Denis Pasler was re-elected to a second term in office.
In April 2024, extensive flooding impacted several regions of Kazakhstan and Russia, specifically in the Ural Mountains and Siberia. Snow melt caused freshets resulting in the Orsk Dam collapsing. In Russia, a federal emergency was declared. Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated including 16,000 people in Kazakhstan. At least eight people died and hundreds of livestock have drowned in floods that are described to have inundated an area the size of western Europe.
The governor of the North Kazakhstan region, Ghauez Nurmukhambetov, issued a statement on April 10 warning that "a huge amount of water is coming" to the region via the Ishim River and will reach the regional capital, Petropavl, and dozens of local towns and villages in "a day or two."