More than 100,000 people had to leave their homes after spring floods engulfed cities and villages in vast sections of neighboring countries. Nearly 12,000 houses have been flooded in the region.
A total of 7,800 people have been evacuated from the flooded areas so far. The overall damage from the floods is estimated to exceed 40 billion rubles ($428 million).
The floods affected multiple settlements across Russia in the South Urals region east of Moscow, in Western Siberia and near the Volga River, as well as at least five regions of Kazakhstan, which shares a long border with Russia.
Heavy floods are a regular feature of the spring season in Russia. But the situation appeared to be substantially worse this year after a brisk heat wave caused large amounts of snow to melt rapidly, prompting local rivers to rise, the Russian emergency authorities said.
Floods have also hit Kazakhstan, where authorities have declared a state of emergency in 10 out of 17 regions of the country. As of Thursday, the state of emergency was still in place in eight regions. Since March, more than 98,000 people have been evacuated from the affected areas there.
