Russian Builder Blames Rodents For Orsk Dam Failure
It's unclear what caused the Orsk dam to collapse at this point but officials suspect the usual culprits in Russian construction disasters: low quality, inferior parts substituted instead of essential parts, and a lack of or non-existent maintenance. Both are "normal" practices in Russia because of rampant corruption. The director of the build came to a novel conclusion, however, saying that rodents may have been responsible. If I'm reading this translated piece correctly, he's now been arrested or at least being investigated for embezzlement of construction funds.
The dam was built in 2014 and was built to withstand a water level of 5.5 metres. However, at the time of its collapse, a combination of heavy rainfall and rapid snowmelt raised water levels in the Ural River to 9.6 metres. Some 6000 homes have been flooded in Orsk, as well as another 4000 across the border in Kazakhstan, the worst natural disaster there in 80 years according to their president. (Thanks, Russia!) There is also some speculation that Russia opened water gates deliberately to relieve the pressure on Orenburg, diverting it to Kazakhstan instead.
The minimum estimate for the damages is $21 billion rubles, but that is expected to increase exponentially. The water is also expected to keep rising, only subsiding around April 20. It now threatens the much larger Russian city of Orenburg.