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A picture taken on Monday shows rescuers evacuating residents from the flooded part of the city of Orsk, Russia鈥檚 Orenburg region, southeast of the southern tip of the Ural Mountains. 鈥� AFP photo

The Russian city of Orenburg, near the Kazakh border, braced on Monday for flooding not seen in decades, as officials evacuated locals to escape rising rivers in the Urals and western Siberia.

Moscow declared a federal emergency on Sunday over floods in the Orenburg region, where the Ural river left much of the city of Orsk covered in water, forcing thousands to leave their homes.


The river is now reaching dangerous levels in the regional capital of Orenburg, a city of 5,50,000 people.

The Kremlin has also warned of 鈥榠nevitable鈥� floods in western Siberia鈥檚 Kurgan and Tyumen regions.

Thousands of people have already been evacuated from flooded areas.

The Kremlin said on Monday that over 10,000 residential buildings had been flooded, mostly in the Urals, Volga area and western Siberia.

Emergency services warned of a 鈥榬ise in air temperature, active snow melting and the overflow of rivers鈥�.

Much of the city of Orsk was under water after torrential rain caused a nearby dam to burst.

Orenburg region authorities said that while the Ural river 鈥榳ent down by nine centimetres鈥� in Orsk, water levels in the city of Orenburg were rising fast.

鈥業n Orenburg, in a day there was a rise by 16 centimetres to 872 centimetres,鈥� in the water level, the regional government said.

Its mayor, Sergei Salmin, told Russian television that the city 鈥榟as not seen so much water鈥� in decades.

鈥楾he highest (water) mark was in 1942. That was 946 centimetres,鈥� Salmin said.

鈥楽ince then there have been no floods. This is unprecedented.鈥�

The Kremlin has said president Vladimir Putin is being briefed on areas affected by 鈥榥ature anomalies鈥� in real time.

On Monday, it said Putin ordered a government commission to be established on the floods.

Orenburg mayor Salmin said authorities had evacuated 736 people in the city, as they expect the water to rise further.

Over the weekend he warned of forced evacuations if people did not cooperate, saying: 鈥楾here is no time for convincing.鈥�

Russia鈥檚 weather monitor Rosgidromet said it did not expect the flood in Orenburg to peak until Wednesday and warned that many districts of the city would be affected.

The Ural river flows through Orenburg and into Kazakhstan, where president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said the floods were one of the worst natural disasters to affect the area in decades.

After evacuating over 6,000 people in the Orenburg region, authorities also began relocating some residents of the Siberian city of Kurgan, where the Tobol river is expected to rise.

Kurgan is a city of around 3,00,000 people near northern Kazakhstan.

Emergency services in Kurgan said 571 people were moved away from areas expected to be flooded in what it said were 鈥榩reventative evacuations鈥�.

Local authorities said reinforcements of some 100 rescuers arrived in the western Siberian region from the Urals to prepare for the floods.

Emergency authorities also warned that the Irtysh river was 鈥榲ery likely鈥� to flood parts of Tobolsk, one of Russia鈥檚 oldest Siberian cities.

Putin, who has been a vocal climate sceptic for much of his rule, has in recent years ordered his government to do more to prepare Russia for extreme weather events.

The country has seen severe floods and fires in recent springs and summers.