Kherson – Muddy water is already reaching rooftops in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, where rescuers continue to evacuate residents in small boats, many of whom are left with nothing.
“We are left without a home. The water swallowed her whole. You can’t even see the ceiling anymore… ”, says Dmitri Melnikov, 46, who was evacuated along with his five children. “The whole area is now under water,” he adds.
The destruction of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper River on Tuesday caused flooding both in the part of the country controlled by the Ukrainian authorities, including Kherson, and in the part controlled by Moscow. The two parties blame each other for their destruction and carry out evacuations.
According to the Ukrainian authorities, the waters of the Dnieper rose by five meters and could continue to rise.
Police, lifeguards and military evacuate the inhabitants, among whom there are many elderly, and pets. Some did not wait and evacuated by swimming or on inflatable mattresses.
Natalia Korj, 68 years old, reaches the mainland with her bare feet and her clothes soaked. He carries with her some bags with personal effects. “Every room in my house is under water,” she says.
He had to swim to escape. Her legs are covered in scratches and her hands are shaking from the cold. She is worried about her two dogs and her cat, which she couldn’t save.
Help
“When they can, the inhabitants send us their geolocation and we rescue them,” explains Serguiï, a 38-year-old police officer who is participating in the rescue operations.
Svetlana Abramovitch, 56, organizes the rescue of 22 inhabitants who are still trapped in a five-story house.
“The water started coming in last night and after 6pm it flooded the building and the courtyard. The water entered through the doors to the apartments on the ground floor, ”he says.
Some of the evacuees, relieved to be in a safe place, smile upon arrival, others cry and tremble. They barely react when an air raid siren begins to sound. Kherson is regularly bombarded by Russian troops.
“There is the water, here the explosions,” Svetlana sighs.
Dmitri made his decision: he will leave the city.
“We have been here since the war began, we survived the occupation. But we are left without a home, without a job, with nothing. We don’t want to leave, but what can we do?” she asks.
Volunteers take the families to the bus station, where some take a free bus to the nearby city of Mikolaiv. There is also a train to evacuate them.
But many prefer to stay in Kherson or nearby cities while they wait for the water to recede.
Sergi Trofimov, 34, a member of the Proliska humanitarian organization, helps people at the station.
“People prefer to wait for the water level to drop, they don’t want to go very far,” he explains. “They want to go home as soon as possible.”
AFP Agency
Source: Ambito
