 Authorities in the news media are attributing the floods to snowmelt and attributing snowmelt to warmer air, but still calling this a natural disaster. They don't understand. There is nothing natural about it. The warmer air causing all of this is a human-made disaster. The impact on the Orsk and Orenburg regions were so severe that there were even protests against Russian leader Vladimir Putin in the regions affected. Incredibly rare event in Russia.