Thousands are evacuated after floods break a dam in the Russian city of Orsk

MOSCOW (AP) — Floods caused by rising water levels in the Ural River broke a dam in a city near Russia’s border with Kazakhstan, forcing some 2,000 people to evacuate, local authorities said. The dam broke in the city of Orsk in the Orenburg region, less than 12.4 miles north of the border on Friday night, according to Orsk mayor Vasily Kozupitsa. By Saturday morning, more than 2,400 residential buildings were flooded and electricity was cut off in several areas. Authorities also said floods affected other places in the region, located in the Ural Mountains area, causing the evacuation of nearly 4,000 people. It wasn’t clear whether the 2,000 already evacuated in Orsk were included in that number.