Sudden flood turned village into a big lake – Kostanay region (UPDATED) (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

Rescuers are working here day and night. The locals have lost almost all of their property. Many houses were fully overwhelmed the flood. The depth of the water is at least one meter, Alau.kz says.  

Natalya Novikova, local resident, says that  water level in her house has reached the windows.  “The floor has blown and all the furniture sank. The only thing that we could take out through the window is a fridge. The shed has tumbled down,” told she.

Livestock is what all the people could save. The rescuers evacuated the animals to a safe place and provide them with fodder. However, the locals don’t know what to do further.

“I have 6 cows, 8 calves and 12 pigs. We could take them away to a safe place. But we have no fodder. Hay, offal and byproduct feed – everything drowned. There is nothing to give to the animals,” Novikova continues.

Some villagers are now leaving Surikovka for Kostanay. But the majority stayed, because they don’t know where to move. They were evacuated to a local primary school.  They are provided with medical care, water and hot food at the expense of the local budget and local rams. Tens of houses remain under the water.

According to Akim (governor) of Kostanay district, the authorities are searching for reserves to compensate the damage caused by the flood. “Every hour we report to the Governor of the region about the situation here. It was almost impossible to hold back the water which moved by 60 cm in a day,” he said.

The problem is that the village is located in a lowland. It is supposed that the dam was broken, while melt-water worsens the situation. Nobody can say when the people will be able to return to their houses. Officials say it will probably take two weeks to pump out the water, which is still coming.

“We are pumping out in now. We are waiting also for special vehicles to dig channels and install pumps,” Deputy Head of the Kostanay region’s  emergencies department Viktor Shiller says.

The rescuers use inflatable boats to evacuate people, their property and small domestic animals.  For now, this is the only way to save  drowning residents of Surikovka village.

Kazinform learnt from the emergencies authorities that as of 09:00 a.m. 15 April 2016, 20 houses were fully captured by water. 55 people were evacuated in total, including 15 children and 7 pensioners. 21 people were placed at the Surikovka Primary School. 293 heads of domestic animals were rescued. 




   

        

Photos: alau.kz