MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. Water levels in the Tobol River near the city of Kurgan in the southern Urals have risen dramatically in the past two hours, according to an online map drawn by the local authorities.

Thus, the water level rose by 16 centimeters by 4:00 p.m. Moscow time (1:00 p.m. GMT) and reached 768 centimeters. During the day, water levels have been rising by one to three centimeters every two hours.

As of now, as many as 305 single-family houses and 685 homesteads stay flooded in six municipalities in the Kurgan Region. Twenty-five settlements are cut off power supplies. The authorities are urging people to evacuate from settlements located in the Tobol floodplains, including from the region’s administrative center - the city of Kurgan. According to Kurgans Region governor Vadim Shumakov, the situation in the region is expected to be "very difficult," with water levels in the Tobol rising up to 11 meters under the worst-case scenario.