Sharjah24 - AFP: Russia said on Thursday that unprecedented flooding had created "difficult" conditions and another major river had burst its banks, submerging roads and villages in the Siberian region of Tomsk.
Fast-rising temperatures have caused snow and ice to melt rapidly, causing a number of major rivers that cross Russia and Kazakhstan to overflow.
Three villages in the Tomsk region -- 3,000 kilometres (1,850 miles) east of Moscow -- were cut off from the regional capital when rising waters in the river Tom flooded roads, villages and several houses, state media cited local officials as saying.
Evacuations were continuing in neighbouring Kazakhstan, where around 100,000 people have been forced to leave their homes.
In Russia, the Orenburg region has been the worst hit and thousands of residential buildings are submerged in water.
"This year's flood exceeded all historical figures in the entire history of observation," the Orenburg city administration said on Thursday in a post on Telegram.
Water levels in the Ural river, which flows past the city, have risen nearly one metre (39 inches) since Wednesday morning.
The river was 10.6 metres high on Thursday morning -- 1.3 metres above what officials described as the "critical level".
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