Russia declares flood-hit Orenburg region a federal emergency as evacuation efforts continue

MOSCOW (AP) — State media say Russia’s government has declared the situation in flood-hit areas in the Orenburg region a federal emergency. The floods, caused by rising water levels in the Ural River, forced over 4,000 people, including 885 children, to evacuate, the regional government said. State news agency Tass said that a further 2,000 homes were flooded, bringing the total to nearly 6,300. Russia’s Emergency Situations Minister Alexander Kurenkovarrived arrived in Orsk — one of the most hard-hit cities — on Sunday to supervise rescue operations. Orsk suffered the brunt of the floods which caused a dam to break on Friday,