How residents of Orsk are coping with the flood: Kommersant report

Yesterday, a federal-level emergency situation was introduced in the Orenburg region. Due to a dam break, several areas of Orsk are flooded – and the water continues to rise. Local residents are on duty near flooded areas of the city and take out fishing boats to evacuate neighbors. Kommersant correspondent Polina Yachmennikova flew to the city and saw how the flood divided Orsk, but united its inhabitants.

The Ural River divides Orsk into two parts – and at the same time into Europe (on the right bank) and Asia (on the left). After the dam broke on April 5, water began to surge sharply into the Old City in the “Asian” part. This area consists of private houses with “six hundred square meters”, which were immediately flooded. Residents had to urgently leave “for Europe” – and most did not have time to take even basic necessities with them. From that moment on, an active social life began in Orsk – mutual aid chats appeared, where townspeople organize volunteer groups, evacuate friends and strangers, rescue animals, collect clothes and things for those who find themselves in temporary accommodation centers (TAP). In one of these chats, a Kommersant correspondent saw an advertisement from Andrei, a resident of the “Asian” part of the city – he told his neighbors that he was ready to transport both things and people in his car for free. Andrey also agreed to give the journalists a ride.

Orsk Airport is located far from the flood zone. When landing from the window, only the steppe and isolated unmelted snowdrifts are visible – nothing suggests an emergency on a regional scale. True, a little later, emergency services vehicles arrived at the airport, accompanied by police cars. High officials of the emergency service boarded the plane, and the police approached the newly arrived passengers. A voice came from the window of the official car: “Whoever needs it, sit down, we’ll give you a ride to the center.” For free”.

Andrey arrived at the airport from the temporary detention center – he was taking there another batch of humanitarian aid collected by the townspeople. Now he is heading back – “to the water, to Asia.” He needs to go to the 6th microdistrict – a square block built up with standard houses of 5-9 floors. It flooded on Saturday evening. You can get there from three directions at once, says Andrey; the roads there, unlike the road to the Old Town, are not blocked.

A car with a trailer is driving in the same direction, where a motor boat is bouncing on the road potholes. “The most necessary transport in our domestic Venice,” nods a resident of Orsk. “Although we have never been drowned so much. Old-timers remember that the river only flooded like this in the 1940s and 50s.”

According to Andrey, city residents are accustomed to floods, but they did not expect such a scale. At the same time, he has “a lot of questions” for the local authorities: “Residents have been complaining for several weeks that the dam there is about to break. It was already starting to leak. But the mayor arrived less than a week ago, took a look, and reassured us that everything was safe. Well, people didn’t really believe it, but they decided that it would flood as usual—plots, basements, maybe. And it turned out like this.”

Indeed, on April 2, the head of Orsk, Vasily Kozupitsa, reported on social networks that he “inspected the dam again.” He stated that “water present in places near the body of a hydraulic structure is a normal phenomenon.” But he added: “This year’s flood is the first and serious test of the dam’s strength.” As you know, the dam did not pass the test – and now, in the comments to this post, dissatisfied Orochan residents recall the mayor’s excessive optimism. Andrey is also dissatisfied with the mayor and hopes that “now he will finally be removed.” And it’s not just about the dam – he assures that “in neighboring cities, everything is, of course, much more tidy.” And he points to a deep hole in the middle of the road: “Do you think this is what flooded us now? But no, it’s just that the snow melted along with the asphalt. And it’s like that everywhere.”

Suddenly the road ends. It seems that there is a major accident ahead – there are police officers on the highway, there are many cars on the side of the road, and people are looking for something nearby. But behind the cars is not an accident, but a surface of water. Very close by is a house flooded up to the first floor. A little further, special equipment is towing a sunken car. “Well, our brave people thought they would get through,” the woman grumbles. “But they can only get there by boat, that’s how mine get there.”

Her husband and son went by boat to the flooded village of Forstadt to pick up people who did not have time to evacuate. “They are now, you know, sitting on the second floor of their house and just waiting for at least someone to come for them. Because it’s no longer possible to come,” explains the woman. “Well, my husband has a boat—how can I not help?” She is calm about her house – “it’s in the area of ​​the meat processing plant, on a hill.” However, her neighbors are still worried – a family from the same area of ​​the meat processing plant is standing at the very edge, people are looking intently at the road. “We’ve been monitoring the situation here since the morning to understand when it’s time to leave. “We’ve already packed all our suitcases,” says the head of the family. “Two hours ago, the water at the gas station advertising poster ran out, and since then it’s been getting closer.” Now from the dry place to the poster there are 15 meters of muddy water.

Another corner of the 6th microdistrict looks very similar: the road ends and the water begins, at the edge people are filming what is happening on video. “I live a couple of houses away from here, I’m so scared. “I don’t know what I’m going to do, I don’t have anyone to go to,” the girl in the blue headscarf worries. “I can’t sit at home, I’m guarding the water.” I shoot videos in chats – they often ask how far the water has reached.” There is an ambulance on duty here, emergency vehicles are parked here; service employees are sailing somewhere on an inflatable boat. Andrey invites two women with huge bags of things to throw them “wherever they need to be.” But the ladies confidently go to the regular Gazelle: they have already planned a route taking into account the public transport schedule.

The third corner of the microdistrict is most similar to the “domestic Venice”. Here, between the houses, a great many boats have accumulated; people confidently swim from doorway to doorway over flooded playgrounds. Emergencies Ministry teams and police officers are also on duty here – against the backdrop of the flickering of civilian watercraft, their “parking” irritates many. At the water’s edge, someone is indignant: “They’re just standing here! Maybe they helped in the Old Town, but here everything is done by local volunteers.”

A guy in high fisherman’s trousers is trying to walk through a flooded area on his own two feet. At first he wades through knee-deep water, but then it rises to his waist and higher. “Our son, Zhenya. I went to pick up groceries from home,” an elderly man tells a Kommersant correspondent. He says that he himself evacuated at night on a boat of volunteers: “The sirens started howling, I looked out the window – instead of a playground there was water. Well, I threw on my jacket and went straight to the boats.” His wife was not caught by the flood – she was on duty at night: “I left the house with a restless soul, but still did not pack my things. Yes, there were many reports that we would be flooded, but the administration urged us not to fall for fakes. I was stupid and didn’t fall for it.” Their son, meanwhile, got to the apartment and called his parents. “Take everything out of the freezer first—meat, fish,” his mother instructs. “Don’t forget the dumplings in the corner!” Bags under the sink, put everything in them.” The father also shouts into the phone: “There are pills scattered on the table, these are for my blood pressure. Collect them all, take them too!” “And the flowers, Zhenya, you hear, be sure to water all the flowers,” the woman says at the end.

From conversations with residents, it becomes clear: everyone who sails here in boats returned “to disassemble the refrigerators and pick up the necessary things.” Only the first floors were flooded, but the electricity in the houses was turned off immediately. “At night we didn’t understand where and how quickly the water would reach. And now we thought it was most important, so we’re taking it,” says the woman, carefully getting out of the boat. She has a large package in her hands.

On the way back, Andrey explains where there are so many boats: “Firstly, there are many fishermen in the city. Secondly, there is a river and a reservoir right there, in the summer you can swim with your family and relax.” He is interrupted by another radio report: every few minutes a woman’s voice urges to evacuate – she names the streets in the risk zone and lists the addresses from where buses are taking people to temporary accommodation centers. However, Andrei assures that the temporary detention centers will not be packed: “Our people in the city are all simple, that’s why they are good. Everyone helps each other and is ready to shelter each other.” Indeed, in chat rooms they periodically offer to move people “with children, animals and any nationality” into apartments for free.

Andrey is taking Kommersant correspondents to the New City – to the “European” part of Orsk. From the map it seems that these are neighboring areas. But the road turns out to be very long, and the driver turns around on the move – he turned the wrong way. When the airport is visible from the window again, Andrei smiles: “Don’t be afraid, I’m taking you right. I’m just confused – we’re taking an unusual route, it takes half an hour longer.” All three bridges across the Urals have been washed away, and now you can get from Asia to Europe only through the bypass route to Chelyabinsk. “The bridge on this highway should definitely not be flooded,” Andrey hopes. The “bypass” bridge is quite crowded – people are looking at how much the river has flooded.

It’s sunny on the streets of the New City, people are walking their dogs, cars are stuck in traffic jams at traffic lights. It’s hard to believe that just a couple of kilometers away there is an approaching flood.

Strangers call Andrey – they found his number in a chat, asking him to stop by the supermarket and buy mattresses, blankets, pillows for the temporary detention center. The interlocutor promises to transfer money for purchases to the card and specifies “how much to charge for delivery.” “Not at all,” Andrey replies. “You and I are definitely not strangers here now.”

Polina Yachmennikova, Orsk