Floods sweep across Russian regions, people evacuated

Hundreds of people have been forced from their homes, their houses ‘particularly flooded’, in a number of Russian regions where river floods have intensified over the past 24 hours due to record snowfalls in years.

An "emergency situation regime" is currently in place in seven municipal districts in Russia’s Voronezh and Saratov regions. The number of houses affected by heavy floods has recently increased, with boats becoming the main means of transport for local residents.
   
"A total of 161 houses are partially flooded in five regions and ten settlements of the Volga and Central Federal districts," the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations told Itar-Tass.

Thirty-nine people have been reportedly evacuated from their homes in Saransk. 129 houses were partially flooded in 14 settlements, and 91 people were evacuated over the weekend.

"A total of 6,500 people assisted by 500 units of hardware are involved in fight against floods and work to liquidate their aftermath in the central Federal District," according to the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations.
   
While many roads in southern parts of central Russia have turned into rivers, the Ministry for Emergency Situations in the Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula have warned local residents of the risks of snowmelt floods in the nearby rivers.
 

Water rise is expected in rivers in the Milkovsky and Ust-Kamchatsky districts, where snowfalls exceeded the average level by 10 to 50 percent, Itar-Tass informed.

Local authorities keep monitoring the  situation to timely warn emergency services and residents about the worsening weather conditions, with risks of flooding expected in Siberia and in the Urals.