"Nobody warned us"
Since late July, the Chelyabinsk region has been battered by extreme rainfall, with rivers overflowing and flooding towns and villages. Often, local residents, unable to receive adequate assistance from authorities, are forced to save themselves and their property on their own.
For nearly a week, the Chelyabinsk region was drenched with incessant rain from July 26. Rising waters breached two dams, inundating the cities of Miass, Yemanzhelinsk, Korkino, and other towns. Dozens of homes were completely flooded, and hundreds of people were evacuated from the emergency zones. In many cases, local residents were forced to rescue themselves. They accuse local authorities of insufficiently prompt and adequately responding to the disaster.
"Water makes your hands blistered."
"This one was pregnant, see? Milk is leaking out of her," Raisa says, pointing to the bloated corpse of a sheep.
Catching their breath, a pensioner-aged woman dressed in a T-shirt and jeans tucked into rubber boots, and her son, a silent middle-aged man in overalls and waders, scoop up the dead animal by its legs and, with difficulty, toss it into the tractor trailer, where several carcasses are already lying. Three men, employees of the veterinary station that owns the tractor and trailer, watch their actions nearby.
"They're standing there and watching! They see a pensioner struggling with her son, but they don't even think about helping! What kind of city is this!" Raisa fumes, adding, "My son had ten sheep and a goat, and they all drowned. Only a few chickens, whose wings weren't clipped, were saved. When the flood started, I begged the emergency services to save the animals. They said, 'What are you, a woman? We're saving people, what sheep?' And they all drowned."
Yemanzhelinsk, a city of just over 27,000 people, is located fifty kilometers from Chelyabinsk. On the night of July 28, the Yemanzhelinka River overflowed its banks and flooded the villages of Pionersky and Rabochy on the outskirts of the city. The water rose rapidly and soon reached the rooftops of one-story houses. Rescuers evacuated 142 local residents (including 25 children). Most of the pets perished. Some of the flood victims were accommodated by relatives, while others went to temporary shelters set up in local schools.
"The night before, police cars were driving through the streets with their lights flashing, urging residents to evacuate through loudspeakers. But I decided to stay because of the animals," says Elena. Due to a stroke, she can't help her husband, Yuri, and mother-in-law, Raisa, carry the animals' carcasses. "At midnight, the water started rising sharply. I rushed to unchain the dog, which took a few minutes, but the water was already waist-deep. My husband came running from his shift, and together we climbed higher, to dry ground, where Yuri's mother picked us up in her car. We've been living with her ever since and don't plan to go back home; everything here is completely destroyed."
A week later, the water level in the streets of Pionersky Settlement has subsided, but the alley where Elena and Yuri's house stands is still flooded to a depth of about half a meter. Raisa suggests inspecting the inside of the house to get a sense of the extent of the damage. I climb across the flooded yard on planks placed under my feet. The surviving chickens cluck, and Yuri grabs another drowned sheep by the legs and drags it toward the gate. I peer through a window with a shattered frame; it seems as if an explosion occurred inside the house. The force of the flood was so strong that it overturned furniture and knocked over the refrigerator. In addition to the stench of decomposing animal bodies, I smell a chemical odor.
"It smells like gas. Our neighbor passed out in his house half an hour later," says Raisa. "I didn't touch anything in particular, but my hands are still covered in blisters and still itch."
Rospotrebnadzor (the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing) in the Chelyabinsk Region officially announced that it had increased chlorination of water in flooded areas to disinfect it. However, residents of Pionersky Village believe this refers to tap water, and the contents of the floodwater are unknown.
"Unofficially, the emergency services warn us not to use this water for any purpose. They don't say what exactly it contains," says Elena, "but people still collect water from the pumps and use it for household needs. I once saw a neighbor washing her children's toys in this water. I said to her, 'Are you stupid? This water can't be used for anything.' And she said, 'I'll rinse it a few times and it'll be fine.'"
On July 29, Chelyabinsk Region Governor Alexey Teksler visited Yemanzhelinsk, toured the flooded areas, and spoke with local residents. According to him, the main question The victims were asking about compensation. After this, commissions began working in Pionersky Village to assess the damage from the flood. According to local residents, the commission often refuses in compensation due to the lack of documents (which could have remained in the flooded houses) or does not record the presence of water in the house (residents pumped it out themselves).
"The commission didn't come to see us. But it's hard to find us at home either; we only come for short periods of time; it's impossible to spend any time here for long because of the stench," Elena explains. "We applied for twenty thousand rubles in compensation, which is due to all victims, but we haven't received it yet. Rumor has it that payments were suspended because so many people, whose homes were barely damaged by the flood, applied for help in the first few days. They're currently working out who to prioritize. We won't be returning to the house; it can't be rebuilt, but we can't live with Yuri's mother permanently either. She supports us completely, since we couldn't take anything from the house. I hope the administration will provide us with housing, and if not, we'll go to the prosecutor's office.
Raisa, pulling out another sheep, suddenly drops her load and shouts to her daughter-in-law:
"Lena, stop chatting! We don't know who this is, do we? Have you seen his documents? What if he's an American spy!"
Surprised by Raisa's sudden change of mood, I try to turn it into a joke. But the woman is adamant, asking me not to ask any more questions or take any photographs. Since the fame of being the first American spy caught on the banks of the Evangelinka River doesn't appeal to me, I decide to leave. Behind me, Raisa shouts to the veterinary station workers:
— Please help us already! We have a ram stuck between the fence and the barn, and we can't get it out ourselves.
"Most residents saved themselves"
"I've lived here for thirty years, and I can't remember anything like this," says Zoya Petrovna, an eighty-year-old resident of a house on Gastello Street in Korkino, spreading her arms half a meter. "The Chumlyak River was always this wide, flowing through a ravine, but then it overflowed and flooded everything."
The town of Korkino, located 35 kilometers from Chelyabinsk with a population of over 36, was flooded at the same time as Yevangelinsk. Residential areas along the Chumlyak River were particularly hard hit. Basements of apartment buildings flooded due to rising groundwater. Several areas of the city remain without power and water a week after the flood.
"My mother lives in this house alone," says Tatyana, a fair-haired, middle-aged woman and Zoya Petrovna's daughter. "The evacuation was announced only when the water started rising. I came for my mother and managed to take her with me while the water was waist-deep. A neighbor who evacuated later said he saw a two-meter wave."
Zoya Petrovna points out a meter-deep hole, carved out by the force of the flood, just outside the gate of the house. We enter the flooded courtyard, where a pump is running. The residents purchased it long before the flood, but the city administration supplies the gasoline, according to Tatyana. Inside the house, Zoya Petrovna points out the marks on the wall to the depth of the water. At first glance, it appears to be about one and a half meters. Tatyana lifts the cellar lid, revealing murky water with dirty foam splashing inside, reaching the very edges. Both women are concerned that the harmful fumes, mold, and insect infestation could cause serious health problems.
"You're kidding! What can we do with that money? Well, I wrote a request for twenty thousand, which we haven't received yet, and what will they give us? Two bags of cement," Tatyana says indignantly, in response to my question about help from the administration. "We're waiting for the commission to assess the damage. But most likely, the house is lost. I'll take Mom with me, of course, but I don't know what we'll do with the land yet."
In addition to the city administration, various volunteer organizations are providing humanitarian aid to the affected residents. Zoya Petrovna recalls receiving a food package from the local Church of St. Peter and Paul, containing an icon of St. Olga (the day before, July 24, was the feast day of this saint). However, many local residents believe the aid is still insufficient. On July 30, Korkino residents recorded a petition to Putin, stating, "The water is still coming, and the administration is taking no action. People are desperate and don't know where to turn." It is not yet known whether the Presidential Administration has responded.
"We didn't receive any text messages or any notifications. We just saw the garden flooding first, but that's happened before, so we went to bed. Luckily, our neighbor Elena woke us up, screaming and yelling that the water was coming. We were so scared, we grabbed our granddaughter—she was staying with us overnight—grabbed our documents and ran outside. I was stunned when I saw the water rising to Elena's windows. We started the car and drove to the children, and that's how we saved ourselves," recalls Tatyana, a middle-aged woman in a camouflage pea coat who shares the same name as Zoya Petrovna's daughter and lives on neighboring Bagration Street. "Most of the residents saved themselves and found temporary shelter with relatives. Those who had nowhere else to go were housed in School No. 14."
During the evacuation perished A 61-year-old man. He was drunk when he was brought to the temporary detention center. Some time later, deciding to return for the remaining vodka, he swam back to his home, where he drowned.
"Look how fast the water rose," Tatyana's husband, Vladimir, tells me. He shows me a video on his phone. The screen shows the dark water rapidly filling the room and the chairs, table, and sofa floating out of their seats.
Natalya Loshchina, head of the Korkino Municipal District, reports that the water is being pumped out with "powerful pumps," but here on Bagration Street, the water still stands. Vladimir and Tatyana's house is only accessible in high boots.
"The house has a cinder block foundation, and we won't be able to dry it out before fall; it'll crack at the first frost. That means the house will be uninhabitable," Vladimir reasons. "Tatiana and I each received twenty thousand rubles in moral damages. A commission is also expected to assess the damage to the property; we're expecting between 70 and 150 rubles, but that's not enough to repair the house."
Two cars pull up to a house up the street. Several distinguished-looking men emerge and struggle to find a patch of dry ground on which to stand. A gray-haired woman in a dressing gown and boots runs out of the gate to meet them, immediately starting to shout something in a tearful voice. Assuming the commission has arrived, Vladimir heads for the neighboring house.
"Loshchinina is supposed to arrive today for a residents' meeting, broadcast live on local television," Tatyana says with a sad smile. "I don't know what they'll say at the meeting, but I doubt they'll propose anything that will help save our houses. They're definitely uninhabitable now; the stagnant water mixed with sewage is causing strong fumes. Our neighbors spent the night in their house, and their son vomited all night from the stench. So I don't know what will happen to the house or what to do next."
"We're not going anywhere from here."
"This year, the weather may not be kind to us. But what true Uralian could be afraid of such rain, such bad weather? We, on the contrary, are delighted by this rain, because our fields are brimming with wheat, we have beautiful apples growing, and we'll have a wonderful harvest." said Irina Teksler, wife of the governor of the Chelyabinsk region, speaking at the opening of the Bushuevsky Festival of Decorated Weapons in Zlatoust on July 27.
"I think she's completely out of her mind. Her husband was out on the dam break that very day, and here she is, saying, 'Wow! Hooray! Rain! Finally, we'll get to celebrate!'" Anton Fofanov, an activist with the Pervy Planovy settlement initiative group, commented on Irina Teksler's speech. "These words are simply unethical; she doesn't care about people. She should apologize, in theory!"
The flood's aftermath didn't spare the region's administrative center. Streets in Chelyabinsk flooded during heavy rains, and the Miass River, which flows through the city, overflowed its banks. The flooded embankment became a popular attraction for residents. Chelyabinsk residents flocked to take photos with the swollen river in the background, tried fishing, and teenagers happily waded knee-deep in the water. But not all city residents found the unusually heavy rains a source of entertainment. In the village of Pervy Planovy, a private development in Chelyabinsk's Leninsky District, rising waters inundated approximately 300 homes.
"I've lived here all my life, but I don't recall anything like this. We flooded back on July 14th, but the water receded in a few hours, and since the 27th, the water level has only dropped a few dozen centimeters a day," says Anton, a middle-aged man with long hair falling to the collar of his baseball cap. Chelyabinsk's mayor, Comrade Natalya Kotova, though she's not really a comrade, reported in early April on the acquisition of a mobile pumping station for the city. One for a city of a million! Besides, the First Planned District has no storm drains; the pipes are clogged; it's no wonder we flood regularly.
Anton and I visited several houses in the village. In some buildings, only the basements were flooded, while in others, the water rose as high as one and a half meters. On the property of one house on Latviyskaya Street, a veritable swamp covered in duckweed had formed in place of a vegetable garden. Alena, whose mother lived at the same address, reported that frogs had already taken up residence in the newly formed pond. Residents pointed out cracks in their facades, flooded yards and vegetable gardens, damaged furniture, and mold stains on the walls and ceilings. Many were forced to abandon their homes because the dampness made them uninhabitable. Some temporarily moved in with relatives, while others were forced to rent. Some residents believe their homes are beyond repair. Most are not planning any repairs, as the Chelyabinsk region is forecast to be flooded until the end of the month.
"Nobody warned us about the flood danger. We only received text messages from the Ministry of Emergency Situations with storm warnings, and we're still getting those messages, even though there's no heavy rain," Anton says. "Residents were forced to save themselves. We called the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and they told us they couldn't act without the go-ahead from the administration. Then we contacted the district administration. Every caller, and there were about forty of them, was told theirs was the first call. That is, the problem was specific to one specific person, while everyone else was doing fine and it was too early to act. So we figured out how to ask for the call number to show that all the calls were not isolated incidents and that the problem was widespread. Only then did the administration order an Ministry of Emergency Situations vehicle to be dispatched to the village to help pump out the water."
Outraged residents of Pervy Planovoye decided to take to the streets. On July 29, a rally took place in the parking lot of a hypermarket in the Leninsky District. About two hundred people participated. A representative of the prosecutor's office and the head of the district, Alexander Orlov, were present. Anna Bron, an activist with the village's initiative group, read an appeal to Putin, Bastrykin, and Governor Alexey Teksler: "The district and city administration are reporting in all media that the situation is not critical and under control. What control is this when the water, despite round-the-clock pumping, is only rising? Cesspools are overflowing, the village is one continuous sewer! Poultry is dying from poisoning! And the pumps that pump water from our village stop working when the power goes out, which is constant. Alexey Leonidovich, what are you monitoring? We only see promises and pretty photos everywhere, but what's the reality?" The houses are knee-deep in water, and it's impossible to live in such conditions!<… >Alexey Leonidovich, you have endless festivals and celebrations at every turn. So what's left for people who have lost everything, their homes, simply being washed away by the city's mindless developments? Come to your next concert?
"Our initiative group was formed last year. Then, residents of the village learned about plans to build multi-story buildings there. In May, we attended public hearings on changes to the city's General Plan, where we raised the issue of changing the zone from a mixed-use development to a single-family housing zone, which prohibits the construction of multi-story buildings. The mayor's office assured us that our proposals had been taken into account, but we still haven't received any documents about the plan changes. But it was this story that brought the village residents together and later, during the flood, helped us overcome the problem together," says Anna Bron, a fair-haired, middle-aged woman wearing glasses.
According to the activist, back in 2017, residents of Pervoye Planovoye filed a complaint with the district prosecutor's office, requesting that the city administration install a rainwater drainage system in the village. At the time, the administration reported that the necessary work had been completed, but, according to Anna, virtually nothing was done. Furthermore, local residents believe the construction of high-rise buildings on the shores of nearby Lake Smolino and its landscaped embankments is the cause of the severe flooding. Filling the coastal area could have disrupted the natural flow of groundwater and underground rivers, which previously prevented rainwater from flooding the village.
"We're serious. We're still waiting for responses from the Investigative Committee and the Prosecutor's Office. If nothing changes, we'll move on," says Anna. "Our group includes a lawyer and drainage specialists, and they won't tell us otherwise. We're not making political demands, but we're not going anywhere."