Russia declared an emergency in the Orenburg region near Kazakhstan after the Ural River, Europe’s third longest river, swelled several feet in hours on Friday, and burst through a dam embankment in the city of Orsk. The river, which rises in the Ural Mountains and flows into the Caspian Sea, will reach dangerous levels on Monday in Orenburg, a city of 500,000 down river from Orsk, and the peak is expected there on April 10, Russia’s emergency ministry said.
” Footage from Orsk, 1,100 miles east of Moscow, showed one man wading through flood water which reached his neck He held his keys in his mouth and a black cat above his head. The streets were submerged in water with residents and emergency workers using boats move around the city. The mayor of Orenburg, Sergei Salmin, said the Ural River was expected to break the previous record of 9.46 meters. It is currently 8.72 meters.