٠٠:٠٤:١٥Residents of a four-storey apartment block in Russia's Orenburg, Southern Urals, reported that rising floodwaters had reached 'three-fourths of the building' in just a few hours on Saturday.
Footage shows flooded garages, cars and a children's playground, while Russian EMERCOM officers evacuate people on inflatable boats. The video also shows a crack in the wall of the building and a collapsed basement extension.
According to local, Vitaly Efremov, the floods hadn't reached the area a day prior, but by Saturday morning the area around the house was inundated. Emergency services arrived promptly on the scene and began inspecting apartments and evacuating residents.
"At about 6-7, I got up, looked into the yard - there was already water, but at first, it was near the house; literally in an hour and a half or two, it reached about three-fourths of the building. <...> The houses are old, so we hope that they were made in Soviet times well, so let's hope for the best," he said.
A second local, Tatyana Nazirova, said she was able to leave the building with her child before the water came.
"We decided to stay here for a while, rented a flat, and as a result - here we are. <...> Yesterday there was no water here, the water was over there, closer to the 'Magnet' shop on [Uralskaya Street], a taxi still passed through here. Yesterday everything [was normal], but we felt something, we had left with the child beforehand, we were scared," the woman said.
The Orenburg administration said on Saturday that the collapsed wall of house No. 35 on Potekhina Street is not load-bearing, the administration will conduct a detailed examination of the structures after the waters recede.
Emergency services are currently working on the site. A number of houses on Potekhina Street are urgently disconnected from electricity.
On Saturday, Orenburg region Governor Denis Pasler stated that as of the morning of 13 April, the level of the Ural River near the city reached 11.71 metres.
"For the last four hours, the water level is not rising. We expect that this is a plateau: there will be no more rise, the situation will stabilise, and then the reduction will begin," he posted on the Telegram channel.
The local Orsk administration reported the breach of the protective dam in the Old Town area late on Friday, April 5, triggering widespread flooding, with over 4,000 homes and over 10,000 people affected.
According to the government of the Orenburg region, as of the morning of April 13, 12,213 residential houses and 17,203 plots remain flooded. More than 13,194 people were evacuated. 1,145 people, including 212 children, were placed in 38 temporary accommodation centres.
EMERCOM added that rescuers were using boats and all-terrain vehicles to move through the city streets and evacuate residents. More than 4,000 specialists, over 800 units of equipment and 150 waterborne vehicles were working in the area.
On Wednesday, the press service of Russia's EMERCOM announced that the water level in Orsk was falling steadily. The indicators have dropped to 894 centimetres, the water has gone from more than 250 houses, though 1,912 residential houses and 2,408 homestead plots remained in the waterlogged zone.
In addition, governor of the Orenburg region Denis Pasler said that the authorities were 'working to reduce water inflow and outflow' at the Iriklinsk Reservoir, which could prevent a new wave of flooding in the region.
Floods in the Orenburg region have been declared a federal emergency. The Russian Investigative Committee said it had launched a criminal probe related to both 'violation of safety rules during construction work' and 'negligence'.
'Garages went under in an instant' - Locals react after floodwaters inundate Russia’s Southern Urals
Residents of a four-storey apartment block in Russia's Orenburg, Southern Urals, reported that rising floodwaters had reached 'three-fourths of the building' in just a few hours on Saturday.
Footage shows flooded garages, cars and a children's playground, while Russian EMERCOM officers evacuate people on inflatable boats. The video also shows a crack in the wall of the building and a collapsed basement extension.
According to local, Vitaly Efremov, the floods hadn't reached the area a day prior, but by Saturday morning the area around the house was inundated. Emergency services arrived promptly on the scene and began inspecting apartments and evacuating residents.
"At about 6-7, I got up, looked into the yard - there was already water, but at first, it was near the house; literally in an hour and a half or two, it reached about three-fourths of the building. <...> The houses are old, so we hope that they were made in Soviet times well, so let's hope for the best," he said.
A second local, Tatyana Nazirova, said she was able to leave the building with her child before the water came.
"We decided to stay here for a while, rented a flat, and as a result - here we are. <...> Yesterday there was no water here, the water was over there, closer to the 'Magnet' shop on [Uralskaya Street], a taxi still passed through here. Yesterday everything [was normal], but we felt something, we had left with the child beforehand, we were scared," the woman said.
The Orenburg administration said on Saturday that the collapsed wall of house No. 35 on Potekhina Street is not load-bearing, the administration will conduct a detailed examination of the structures after the waters recede.
Emergency services are currently working on the site. A number of houses on Potekhina Street are urgently disconnected from electricity.
On Saturday, Orenburg region Governor Denis Pasler stated that as of the morning of 13 April, the level of the Ural River near the city reached 11.71 metres.
"For the last four hours, the water level is not rising. We expect that this is a plateau: there will be no more rise, the situation will stabilise, and then the reduction will begin," he posted on the Telegram channel.
The local Orsk administration reported the breach of the protective dam in the Old Town area late on Friday, April 5, triggering widespread flooding, with over 4,000 homes and over 10,000 people affected.
According to the government of the Orenburg region, as of the morning of April 13, 12,213 residential houses and 17,203 plots remain flooded. More than 13,194 people were evacuated. 1,145 people, including 212 children, were placed in 38 temporary accommodation centres.
EMERCOM added that rescuers were using boats and all-terrain vehicles to move through the city streets and evacuate residents. More than 4,000 specialists, over 800 units of equipment and 150 waterborne vehicles were working in the area.
On Wednesday, the press service of Russia's EMERCOM announced that the water level in Orsk was falling steadily. The indicators have dropped to 894 centimetres, the water has gone from more than 250 houses, though 1,912 residential houses and 2,408 homestead plots remained in the waterlogged zone.
In addition, governor of the Orenburg region Denis Pasler said that the authorities were 'working to reduce water inflow and outflow' at the Iriklinsk Reservoir, which could prevent a new wave of flooding in the region.
Floods in the Orenburg region have been declared a federal emergency. The Russian Investigative Committee said it had launched a criminal probe related to both 'violation of safety rules during construction work' and 'negligence'.
Residents of a four-storey apartment block in Russia's Orenburg, Southern Urals, reported that rising floodwaters had reached 'three-fourths of the building' in just a few hours on Saturday.
Footage shows flooded garages, cars and a children's playground, while Russian EMERCOM officers evacuate people on inflatable boats. The video also shows a crack in the wall of the building and a collapsed basement extension.
According to local, Vitaly Efremov, the floods hadn't reached the area a day prior, but by Saturday morning the area around the house was inundated. Emergency services arrived promptly on the scene and began inspecting apartments and evacuating residents.
"At about 6-7, I got up, looked into the yard - there was already water, but at first, it was near the house; literally in an hour and a half or two, it reached about three-fourths of the building. <...> The houses are old, so we hope that they were made in Soviet times well, so let's hope for the best," he said.
A second local, Tatyana Nazirova, said she was able to leave the building with her child before the water came.
"We decided to stay here for a while, rented a flat, and as a result - here we are. <...> Yesterday there was no water here, the water was over there, closer to the 'Magnet' shop on [Uralskaya Street], a taxi still passed through here. Yesterday everything [was normal], but we felt something, we had left with the child beforehand, we were scared," the woman said.
The Orenburg administration said on Saturday that the collapsed wall of house No. 35 on Potekhina Street is not load-bearing, the administration will conduct a detailed examination of the structures after the waters recede.
Emergency services are currently working on the site. A number of houses on Potekhina Street are urgently disconnected from electricity.
On Saturday, Orenburg region Governor Denis Pasler stated that as of the morning of 13 April, the level of the Ural River near the city reached 11.71 metres.
"For the last four hours, the water level is not rising. We expect that this is a plateau: there will be no more rise, the situation will stabilise, and then the reduction will begin," he posted on the Telegram channel.
The local Orsk administration reported the breach of the protective dam in the Old Town area late on Friday, April 5, triggering widespread flooding, with over 4,000 homes and over 10,000 people affected.
According to the government of the Orenburg region, as of the morning of April 13, 12,213 residential houses and 17,203 plots remain flooded. More than 13,194 people were evacuated. 1,145 people, including 212 children, were placed in 38 temporary accommodation centres.
EMERCOM added that rescuers were using boats and all-terrain vehicles to move through the city streets and evacuate residents. More than 4,000 specialists, over 800 units of equipment and 150 waterborne vehicles were working in the area.
On Wednesday, the press service of Russia's EMERCOM announced that the water level in Orsk was falling steadily. The indicators have dropped to 894 centimetres, the water has gone from more than 250 houses, though 1,912 residential houses and 2,408 homestead plots remained in the waterlogged zone.
In addition, governor of the Orenburg region Denis Pasler said that the authorities were 'working to reduce water inflow and outflow' at the Iriklinsk Reservoir, which could prevent a new wave of flooding in the region.
Floods in the Orenburg region have been declared a federal emergency. The Russian Investigative Committee said it had launched a criminal probe related to both 'violation of safety rules during construction work' and 'negligence'.