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.

The swelling Tom River in southwestern Siberia has led to a partial dam collapse in the city of Tomsk. This year’s heavy rainfall, combined with abnormally warm spring weather, has led to severe flooding in Russia’s Urals and western Siberia. So far, the floods have submerged around 15,600 homes and 28,000 land plots in 193 Russian towns and cities across 33 regions.

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.

Unprecedented flooding strikes Kazakhstan and Russia, marking the worst in decades for the region. The worse than usual seasonal floods have been caused by melting snow. Across the border in Russia, an oil refinery in the city of Orsk, 1,800km southeast of Moscow, has stopped operations because of the floods.

Thick ice and heavy spring floods combines to cause severe flooding in Yakutia. Specialists numbering around 100 have been moved from Baikal Search and Rescue Unit (Irkutsk region) and the Siberian Rescue Centre (Novosibirsk region) have been moved the the stricken region.