Orenburg

The mayor of the southern Russian city of Orenburg urged residents to evacuate immediately on Friday as water in the nearby Ural River reached critically dangerous levels and was not expected to recede until next week.

This region endured similar major floods in 1922, 1942 and 1957 though the current disaster was "extraordinary and all previous 'records' have been surpassed," she added.The Ural River flooded Russia's Orenburg region in particular, while the Ishim — which feeds the Siberian regions of Tyumen and Omsk, and northern Kazakhstan — also burst its banks.