Stories of Kherson people escaping from flooding

As a result of the destruction of the Kakhovskaya HPP, the houses of residents of many districts of the Kherson region were under water

“UP. Life” spoke with the residents of Kherson who managed to escape from the flooded areas.

The women talked about the evacuation, the situation in Kherson districts and why they stay in the city.

“Rescuers swim to houses and give people 30-40 minutes to gather”

Psychologist Inna Moroz moved from the Korabel (Island) microdistrict to the non-flooded part of Kherson only on the morning of June 7. The woman says that until the last moment, she hoped that the water would bypass her house, but it came very quickly.

The woman was evacuated by employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in a rubber boat. On the way, they picked up a guy with a disability.

“Rescuers swim to houses and give people 30-40 minutes to gather. People take animals and get into boats. But some stay.” – says Inna.

The woman says that her classmate and her husband got out of the house through a window from which the frame was removed. Rescuers pulled people out and put them on a boat.

According to Inna, local residents also provide their own boats to rescue people.

Photo: Volodymyr Sagaydak

Inna says that it was scary when they were swimming.

“We swam over a three-meter-high fence. And we were still very afraid that there would be mines in the water.”the woman says.

Inna says that the house in which she lived is high. So there are currently 9 people staying there. Mostly retired women with dogs. However, water is already splashing underfoot in the apartments on the lower floors.

“They broke the dead trees and cooked porridge and tea on the grill,” – says Inna.

Inna says that before leaving for evacuation, she fed the dogs living in the yard. The woman says people who remain in the flooded area need bottled drinking water as well as fuel for generators.

“For them, the main thing is to charge their phones in order to call their relatives and tell them that everything is fine. We have grandmothers who will “build” both the emergency services and the police“, says Inna.

Inna says that shops in the flooded area were still open yesterday morning, and people managed to buy some water and cigarettes. The humanitarian aid that local residents received on the eve of the disaster was also very relevant.

According to the woman, the private sector was the most affected, and areas such as Naftogavan and Hydropark were completely flooded.

Photo: Volodymyr Sagaydak

Inna is currently in a hospital in the upper part of the city, where evacuees are settled. She tells that trains to other cities, in particular to Mykolaiv, are formed here.

The woman is not going to leave Kherson.

“I will not go anywhere. I have already been in Poland for 9 months, my children are there now, and I am here. Because who will raise the Island without us? Clean up the dirt when the water recedes?” – says Inna.

“When we were running away from the water, the Russians were still firing at us”

A resident of Zabalka, Kherson microdistrict Olga Tsylinko deals with the rehabilitation of children with disabilities. As a result of the flooding, the woman lost her house and everything in it. I didn’t even have time to collect all the documents.

Photo: Olga Tsylinko

“The water began to flow very quickly. We left on June 6 at 10 o’clock, when the water was near our house. People tried to stop the water by themselves, to bury collectors, but they could not.” – says Olga.

Olga’s daughter first took elderly neighbors and animals to a safe place. Then the whole family left, they managed to evacuate by car. Olga saw how the rescuers evacuated people, in particular, carried them in their arms.

“There is no Island, there is no Naftohavana. One-story houses were flooded with roofs, and water reached the attic of two-story houses. Now the water is coming slowly, but it is coming.” – says Olga.

The woman saw from a height how the houses went under the water, how their walls collapsed.

Photo: Olga Tsylinko

According to her, it will be impossible to return home. After all, there was no sewage system in the neighborhood, and there were cesspools near the houses. Now all the impurities have gone inside.

Olga also informed about the tragedy that happened in the flooding zone: a sick woman lying in the house died in the house, whom representatives of the emergency department came to rescue, but it was too late.

Olga Tsylinko claims that only in the quarter where she lived, more than a thousand houses were flooded.

Olga Tsylinko’s house

Olga does not plan to leave Kherson either. She is currently in a rehabilitation center waiting for families with children with disabilities to arrive.

Olga lost all her property, so she is forced to ask for help

The woman says that victims of flooding need everything: water, food, clothes, shoes, various household items. Olga lost all her property, so she is forced to ask for help.

“People are offering housing, but we don’t have the strength to deal with it yet. You know that when we fled yesterday, the Russians were still shelling us. Today they also shelled Kherson, they do this every day.” – says Olga.

We will remind you that on June 6, as a result of Russians undermining the Kakhovskaya HPP, 29 settlements of the Kherson region were flooded. The dead are reported in occupied Oleshki.

Read also: Persuaded to leave a flooded house: how residents of the Kherson region are saved. VIDEO