For about a week, the region on the border between Russia And Kazakhstan which develops in the Ural River basin is hit by heavy rains which have caused severe flood. The watercourse has reached a level of over 11 metres, even higher than that of the Caspian Sea, into which it flows.
The floods have also been worsened since dam collapse along the river course. Damage is estimated at more than 210 million euros, but the figure could still rise as bad weather in the region is expected to continue for another 24 hours.
The flood between Russia and Kazakhstan
The region on the border between Russia and Kazakhstan, along the Ural river and close to the Ural mountains, has been hit in the last 7 days by a major flood which caused deaths, displaced people and millions of euros in damage. The main cause of these floods is a large wave of bad weather that hit this area. However, the above-average temperatures, which brought the thaw earlier, also contributed.
The excessive heat has channeled the snow accumulated during the winter into the Ural River basin, which on Saturday reached a record level of 11.7 meters, higher than that of the Caspian Sea, into which it flows. About 14 thousand people had to leave their homes. The most affected city was Orenburg, capital of the Russian region of the same name on the border with Kazakhstan.
The rains also caused serious damage and flooding in the Central Asian state. 10 regions out of the 17 into which the nation is divided have declared it state of emergencywhile President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev defined what happened as a natural disaster the likes of which had not been seen for a long time.
The collapse of the Orsk dam and the economic damage
One of the most serious events since the beginning of the floods in Russia And Kazakhstan it was the collapse of the Orsk dam in Russia. In addition to having seriously damaged the city of Orsk itself, where anti-government protests took place, the failure of the plant further diminished the authorities’ ability to contain the Ural’s floods.
The first data collected speak of around 210 million euros of damage caused by the flood, but this is still a very partial estimate, given that the floods have not yet been resolved in a large part of the region of Orenburg and Kazakhstan. The area is also one of the main wheat producing areas in Russia. The water may have compromised a large part of the harvest.
There is also very serious damage to livestock farming, with the Russian and Kazakh agriculture ministries making sure that farmers have the means to dispose of livestock corpses, to avoid the spread of illnesses.
In Orsk there is also a large one refinery of oil, capable of processing 90 thousand barrels per day, which had to suspend operations. Damage to this plant would be in addition to that caused by Ukrainian drones, which in recent weeks have hit several other refineries, reducing Russia’s capacity to produce oil derivatives by 30%.
Tags: million euros damage thousands displaced people
