MOSCOW, April 8 (Xinhua) -- More than 10,400 residential houses have been flooded across Russia's western Siberia, the Volga region and Central Federal District, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations said Monday.
In the severely hit Orenburg region, more than 6,100 people have been evacuated and a total of 33 temporary accommodation centers deployed for 33,000 people, the ministry said.
The Orenburg regional government said the peak of the flood is expected on April 10 and the situation along the Ural River is expected to normalize no earlier than April 25.
TASS news agency, citing information from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, said more than 18,000 people are in the zone threatened by flooding.
The agency reported that data on April 7-11 points to a continuous rise in daily average temperatures, snowmelt, and river thawing across Siberia, the Volga region, and the Central Federal District. This is expected to exacerbate the flood risks to low-lying areas and transportation infrastructure. ■