Thousands Flee Homes in Russia, Kazakhstan Amid Worst Flooding in Region’s Recorded History

Several rivers in southern Russia and northern Kazakhstan burst their banks this week, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes amid the region’s worst spring flooding in decades. According to Russia’s TASS news agency, over 13,000 homes in south-central parts of the country have been partly or entirely inundated with water. Floodwaters “came very quickly at night,” said Taisiya, a 71-year-old resident of the Russian city of Orenburg, located 750 miles east of Moscow. “By the time I got ready, I couldn’t get out,” she told Reuters on April 11. Spring floods occur annually in south-central Russia, where melting snows cause water levels to rise in the region’s many river systems....