Behind the scenes of the great flood in the Urals. “This is none of the Tsar's business.”

It started on April 5 with the explosion of the dam in Orsk. Well, it happens.

However, the dam was relatively new (it had been put into operation 10 years ago) and a few days before the disaster struck, the mayor of Orsk, Vasily Kozubica, had assured that the dam would withstand everything. She couldn't stand it. Everything sank.

First, the old city was underwater. Like dominoes, other dams collapsed on the reservoirs of the Orenburg region. The waters began to submerge not only the miserable district of Orsk, but dozens of villages, finally reaching the center of the Orenburg region. Many residents of Orenburg, a city of half a million people, were awakened on the morning of April 9 by the sound of a siren – and were urgently told to leave their homes.

The local authorities, as usual, were confused between the need to begin a mass evacuation to avoid casualties, and minimizing the danger and shirking responsibility. When Orenburg media reported that four people had drowned, officials quickly concluded that their deaths had nothing to do with the flood. And this is just the beginning of the absurdities.

Sigmund Shortle

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