As water levels on Kazakhstan's Ishim river continue to rise and flood whole villages, the nearby city of Petropavl, in northern Kazakhstan, braces itself for the worst as a surge is expected to arrive over the next 48 hours. Soldiers and emergency workers are involved in rapid rescue and clearance operations, including pumping away water and installing barricades, while almost 100,000 people have been evacuated from their homes. "I'm taking my wife away tonight. Tomorrow I'll leave myself," says Yuri Stepanenko, a bus driver from the outskirts of Petropavlovsk. "Let's hope we'll be spared -- and if not, well, it is what it is. We've taken what we can." IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES