In the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, muddy water is already pouring over rooftops, where rescuers are using small boats to evacuate residents, many of whom have lost everything. “We were without a house. The water swallowed everything. You can’t see the roof anymore”says Dmitri Melnikov, 46, who was evacuated along with his five children.
‘The whole area is under water’he added.
The destruction of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River on Tuesday caused flooding in both the part of the country controlled by Ukrainian authorities, dependent on Kherson, and the part controlled by Moscow.
According to the Ukrainian authorities, the water of the Dnipro has risen five meters and may rise further. The two sides blame each other for the destruction and organize evacuations.
Police, rescuers and military rescue residents, many of whom are elderly and pets. Some did not wait for help and fled by swimming or on inflatable mattresses.
Natalia Korj, 68, stepped off the boat with her bare feet and soaked clothes. In her arms she carries some bags with personal items. “All the rooms in my house are flooded”Natalia says.
Korj had to swim out of the house. Her legs are covered in scratches and her hands are shaking from the cold. She is worried about her two dogs and a cat, which she has not been able to save.
Between floods and bombings, many still prefer to stay
Sergueï, a 38-year-old police officer participating in the rescue operations, explained that “when they succeed, the residents send us their geolocation and we come to the rescue”.
Svetlana Abramovitch, 56, organizes the rescue of 22 residents still trapped in a five-story house. “The water started flowing last night and after 6pm the building and courtyard flooded”explains.
Relieved to be in a safe place, some of the rescued smile as they arrive, while others cry and tremble. When an air raid siren starts wailing, they barely respond. Kherson is also regularly bombed by Russian troops. “It’s water on one side, explosions on the other”complains Svetlana.
Dmitri has made his decision: he is going to leave town. “We have been here since the beginning of the war, we survived the occupation. But we are without a house, without a job, without anything. We don’t want to leave, but what else can we do?” he asks.
Volunteers take families to the bus station, where some take a free bus to the nearby town of Mykolaiv. A train is also available for rescue workers.
However, many prefer to stay in Kherson or nearby towns while waiting for the water level to drop. Sergueï Trofimov, 34, a member of the humanitarian organization Proliska, helps people at the station, explaining that they “prefer to wait for the water level to drop, they don’t want to go too far (…) they want to go home as soon as possible” .
Source: DN
