Hundreds of residents in southwestern Russia’s Ural region staged a rare protest Monday, demanding compensation for the flooding of their homes after a dam gave way because of rising floodwaters.
The protest took place in the city of Orsk, located in the Orenburg region near the border with Kazakhstan.
Chanting “Putin help us” and “shame,” the locals affected by the floods defied Russian laws that prohibit demonstrations without the permission of authorities. They gathered in front of the city’s administrative building Monday, demanding emergency assistance as the floods swallowed more than 10,000 homes.
Denis Pasler, governor of the Orenburg region where Orsk sits, promised the disaffected civilians compensation payments of about $100 for six months.
Many feel that the amount offered by the authorities is not adequate to help them with the destruction of their properties. Others are upset that the dam, built in 2010, did not protect them from the rising waters of the Ural River.
A criminal investigation has been launched to determine whether violations in the construction of the dam embankment may have led to the structure leaking and to the dam’s subsequent collapse Friday under the weight of the excess water.
Regional authorities estimate the total damage from the flooding to be about $227 million as swaths of Orsk, a city of 230,000 people about 1,795 kilometers (1,115 miles) east of Moscow, have been inundated by water.
After the floods in Orsk, Russia’s Emergency Ministry warned rising waters were nearing dangerous levels in Orenburg, a city of 550,000 about 400 kilometers (about 248.55 miles) from Orsk.
"On the territories of the Siberian, Privolzhye [Volga area] and the central federal regions, a rise in air temperature, active snow melting and the overflow of rivers is forecast,” the ministry warned on social media.
Orenburg Mayor Sergei Salmin was quoted by Russian media as saying the flood there was expected to be "unprecedented" and warned of forced evacuations.
Russia’s weather monitor Rosgidromet said that it expected the flood to reach its peak in Orenburg on Wednesday and that several of the city's districts would be affected.
Authorities have also warned of "inevitable" rising water levels in the Siberian regions of Tyumen and Kurgan, with the large Tobol River expected to rise.
Emergency service workers in Kurgan, a city of around 300,000 people near the Kazakh border, said they began "preventative evacuations" and that they relocated 571 people.
The Kremlin has ordered authorities in the area to monitor the situation and issue emergency alerts due to "nature anomalies."
Some information for this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
