Moscow, Apr. 16, (dpa/GNA) – The authorities in southern Russia repeated warnings on Tuesday for residents to evacuate their homes in regions hit by severe spring flooding.

In Tyumen in western Siberia on the border with Kazakhstan, Governor Alexander Moor posted a video on the Telegram messaging service. “All of you know the danger. Take your valuables! Move without delay to a safer place!” he said.

The Ishim river, a tributary of the Irtysh, which is itself a tributary of the Ob, has burst its banks. The Ob flows north into the Arctic Sea

To the west, another village had to be evacuated by the city of Orsk in the Orenburg region, which has been affected by the floods since the beginning of the month. Orsk lies on both sides of the Ural, which flows into the Caspian Sea.

While levels along the Ural are slowly subsiding, a dam near Tukai to the east of Orsk has overflowed, with the water threatening the settlement, the Orsk authorities reported, according to the Interfax news agency.

Around 15,000 homes in the Orenburg region remained under water on Tuesday. Flooding has also been reported in the Siberian regions of Kurgan, Tomsk and Buryatia.

Russian Emergency Situations Minister Alexander Kurenkov flew over the Kurgan region on Tuesday.

In Kazakhstan to the south, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited the neighbouring region in the north of his country. According to government sources in Astana, 113,000 people affected by the flooding have been taken to safety.

Tokayev has described the flooding as Kazakhstan’s greatest climate catastrophe in 80 years.GNA