In April 2024, extensive flooding impacted several regions of

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, specifically in the

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

and

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

. Snow melt caused freshets resulting in the Orsk Dam collapsing. In Russia, a federal emergency was declared. Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated including 16,000 people in

. At least eight people died and hundreds of livestock have drowned in floods that are described to have inundated an area the size of western Europe. On 3 May, the Grand Prix of Kazakhstan was "postponed until later in the season" due to the on-going flooding.

Impact

Kazakhstan

The Ministry of Emergency Situations said on 10 April that it had evacuated 96,472 people, including 31,640 children, affected by the floods, which struck the western and northern parts of the country, including the cities of

Aktobe Aktobe ( kz, Ақтөбе, Aqtöbe; russian: Актобе, Aktobe) is a city on the Ilek River in Kazakhstan. It is the administrative center of Aktobe Region. In 2020, it had a population of 500,757 people. Aktobe is located in the west of K ...

and Petropavlovsk, as well as the regions of

Atyrau Atyrau ( kk, Атырау, ', ; russian: Атырау, ), known until 1991 as Guryev (russian: Гурьев, ), is a city in Kazakhstan and the capital of Atyrau Region. Atyrau is a transcontinental city, at the mouth of the Ural River on the Cas ...

Akmola Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, thou ...

, Kostanay,

East Kazakhstan East Kazakhstan Region ( kk, Шығыс Қазақстан облысы, translit=Şyğys Qazaqstan oblysy; russian: Восточно-Казахстанская область, Vostochno-Kazakhstanskaya oblast) is a region of Kazakhstan. It occupi ...

Northern Kazakhstan North Kazakhstan Region ( kk, Солтүстік Қазақстан облысы, translit=Soltüstık Qazaqstan oblysy; russian: Северо-Казахстанская область, translit=Severo-Kazakhstanskaya oblast) is a region of Kazakh ...

and

Pavlodar Pavlodar ( ; ) is a city in northeastern Kazakhstan and the capital of Pavlodar Region. It is located 450 km northeast of the national capital Astana and 405 km southeast of the Russian city of Omsk along the Irtysh River. , the cit ...

Russia

Flooding occurred in

Orenburg Orenburg (russian: Оренбу́рг, ), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Ural River, southeast of Moscow. Orenburg is also very close to the Kazakhstan-Russia bor ...

Tomsk Tomsk ( rus, Томск, p=tomsk, sty, Түң-тора) is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, located on the Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. The city is a not ...

Tyumen Tyumen ( ; rus, Тюмень, p=tʲʉˈmʲenʲ, a=Ru-Tyumen.ogg) is the administrative center and largest city of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is situated just east of the Ural Mountains, along the Tura River. Fueled by the Russian oil and gas indu ...

and

Kurgan Oblast Kurgan Oblast (russian: Курга́нская о́бласть, ''Kurganskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Kurgan. In June 2014, the population was estimated to be 874,100,Kurgan ...

s, which border Kazakhstan. The flooding was worsened by the collapse of a dam near Orsk on 5 April. Several major river systems have seen their water levels rise, including the

Ural River The Ural (russian: Урал, ), known before 1775 as Yaik (russian: Яик, ba, Яйыҡ, translit=Yayıq, ; kk, Жайық, translit=Jaiyq, ), is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan in the continental border between Europe and Asia ...

, which flows through Russia and Kazakhstan before entering the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

, and the

Tobol The Tobol (russian: Тобол, kk, Тобыл ''Tobyl'') is a river in Western Siberia (in Kazakhstan and Russia) and the main (left) tributary of the Irtysh. Its length is , and the area of its drainage basin is . History The Tobol River was ...

and Ishim Rivers, both of which are tributaries of the

Irtysh River The Irtysh ( otk, 𐰼𐱅𐰾:𐰇𐰏𐰕𐰏, Ertis ügüzüg, mn, Эрчис мөрөн, ''Erchis mörön'', "erchleh", "twirl"; russian: Иртыш; kk, Ертіс, Ertis, ; Chinese: 额尔齐斯河, pinyin: ''É'ěrqísī hé'', Xiao'erj ...

. In Tyumen Oblast, authorities warned that flooding along the Tobol River would peak in May. Apart from the Orsk Dam, several other dams in the affected areas failed due to heavy rains and increased volumes of water, including one in

Novotroitsk Novotroitsk (russian: Новотро́ицк) is a town in Orenburg Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of and along the Ural River, from Orenburg, on the border with Kazakhstan. In the east Novotroitsk almost borders Orsk: the distance b ...

, Orenburg Oblast, and another along the

Tom River The Tom ( rus, Томь, p=tomʲ, cjs, Том) is a river in Russia, a right tributary of the Ob in Central Siberia. Its watershed lies within the Republic of Khakassia, Kemerovo Oblast, and Tomsk Oblast.Tomsk Tomsk ( rus, Томск, p=tomsk, sty, Түң-тора) is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, located on the Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. The city is a not ...

. The Russian government has not confirmed any fatalities. On 17 April, the Russian investigative news outlet ''

iStories iStories or Important Stories () is an independent Russian website specialising in investigative journalism. The website was founded in 2020 by Russian journalists Roman Anin and Olesya Shmagun. iStories published a number of high-profile inve ...

'' reported that seven people had died from the floods in Orenburg Oblast, citing relatives of the victims who also accused authorities of withholding the circumstances of their deaths to avoid making compensation payments. On 22 April, the Russian investigative news outlet '' Agentstvo'' reported that the Dobrovolnoye

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

mines operated by

Rosatom Rosatom, ( rus, Росатом, p=rɐsˈatəm}) also known as Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation, the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom or Rosatom State Corporation, is a Russian state corporation headquartered in Moscow that speciali ...

Zverinogolovsky District Zverinogolovsky District (russian: Звериноголовский райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #316 and municipalLaw #419 district (raion), one of the twenty-four in Kurgan Oblast, Russia. It is located in the south of the oblast. The a ...

, Kurgan Oblast, had been flooded, raising concerns over radioactive contamination in the Tobol River.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Central Asian floods, 2024 2024 floods in Asia 2024 disasters in Russia 2024 disasters in Kazakhstan April 2024 events in Kazakhstan April 2024 events in Russia Floods in Russia