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Western Kazakhstan braces for Ural floods, river Ob threatens Siberia

Parts of Kazakhstan on the lower reaches of the Ural River got ready for peak floodwater on Thursday, while 3 Russian areas struggled to cope more than two weeks into the worst flooding in living memory.

Officials in Kurgan, on Russia's side of the border with Kazakhstan, said water levels in the Tobol River around the city had climbed 56 cm (23 inches) over the past 24 hr, according to Russian news agencies. They now exceeded 10 m (33 feet), well over the level thought about hazardous.

Kurgan region Governor Vadim Shumkov said work was underway to strengthen a dam in the city going through heavy pressure.

Floodwaters had swamped 13 areas where evacuations had previously been bought and 8 more were under danger, according to the reports. New evacuations were purchased in 18 localities in Belozersky district, north of Kurgan, Russian agencies reported.

Kazakhstan has stated a nationwide disaster and diverted moneying for relief efforts, leaving well over 100,000 people and saying 16,000 metric tons of oil production had actually been lost so far. Aerial videos have shown huge locations under water, with some homes immersed approximately their rooftops.

Workers and volunteers in the cities of Oral and Atyrau were building dams and barriers to safeguard residential, farming and enterprise zones from water.

The energy ministry said walls 2 m to 2.5 m tall have been developed around the Atyrau oil refinery which is close to the river, although the authorities still appeared not to dismiss possible disturbances to its work. Sufficient fuel stocks had been created throughout the nation, officials said.

In Russia, the guv of the Tyumen region, a centre of oil and gas production, stated on Wednesday approximately 100 settlements were expected to be flooded in coming days as he discussed the flooding with President Vladimir Putin in a telecasted conference.

Water levels have actually continued to rise on the Tobol river and on the Ob river even more north in Tomsk area, local authorities said.

In the Tyumen area in Siberia, crossed by the Tobol and Ishim rivers, more than 1,500 individuals have been left, Russia's emergency situations ministry said. In the worst case scenario, floods might threaten 94 towns and towns with an overall population of 31,000 people, it added.

The Interfax news agency pointed out the federal government of the Tomsk region as stating that water levels in the Ob were above hazardous marks in parts of the area, however were subsiding in its tributary river, the Tom.

The disaster has been triggered by the uncommonly fast melting of big snowfalls in the middle of heavy rain, swelling the tributaries of several of Europe's biggest rivers.

A senior Putin ally said today that local authorities had fallen short in their forecasting and emergency response.