PETROPAVLOVSK, Kazakhstan ¨C Kazakhstan¡¯s president described floods across the north of the country as a national disaster on Tuesday and ordered his government to free up funds for relief efforts by cutting spending elsewhere.
In Russia, also hit by the worst floods in living memory, a top ally of President Vladimir Putin said regional authorities had fallen short in their forecasting and emergency response.
Water levels in rivers in swathes of Russia¡¯s Ural and southwestern Siberian regions, as well as adjacent areas of Kazakhstan, were still rapidly rising, officials said.
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