Kherson people return home after dam break

Kherson residents gradually returned home after the Kakhovka dam collapsed, many burst into tears when they saw their homes in ruins.

"I have lived in this house all my life. Now I have nothing left," AFP quoted Tetiana Pivneva, a resident of Kherson city, as saying on June 23 when returning home after the Kakhovka dam collapsed earlier this month.

The Kakhovka Dam collapsed on June 6, causing severe flooding downstream and forcing the evacuation of more than 11,000 people. Pivneva was with her two children in Odessa, about 200 kilometers from Kherson, when the incident occurred.

Pivneva returned home earlier this week and is still struggling to sort through the mess. "There are no words to describe this. I have been crying for days," the 41-year-old widow said.

Pivneva said that even if she had been home at the time, there was nothing she could have done to stop the floodwaters. With the help of friends, Pivneva slowly cleared away the mud that covered the floor.

“This is all I have: two children, a cat, a dog and a suitcase with the rest of my things in Odessa,” Pivneva said.

A resident in the town of Hola Prystan, Kherson, on June 16. Photo: AFP

Inside Pivneva's house, a young man checks to see if there are any broken items that need to be thrown out, while a woman cleans up pieces of wallpaper scattered on the floor.

"All the furniture, tables, chairs, doors, and household appliances had to be thrown away, nothing was usable. Perhaps only the walls could be saved. The house would have to be sold or repaired later," said Olena Pshenychna, a friend who came to help Pivneva.

Ignoring warnings that the situation was still dangerous, Igor and Natalia decided to return to Kherson "to try to save what could be saved". Their house was badly damaged by the dam burst, with plaster peeling off the ceiling.

"We don't have the strength to rebuild the house and we don't have any money. I don't know what we're going to do," Natalia said in her dilapidated home, its floor covered in mud and trash.

The couple are contacting authorities to register as flood victims in hopes of receiving assistance.

A house destroyed by floods in the town of Hola Prystan, Kherson on June 16. Photo: AFP

In front of a Kherson apartment building, people piled their belongings outside to dry or throw away, while clothes were hung from tree branches. Sergiy Sergeyev, 26, an officer in a local military brigade, said it was a familiar scene in Kherson at the moment.

"People are in the process of cleaning their homes, drying out walls and furniture, with about 90% of the stuff going to landfill," Sergeyev said, adding that residents' reconstruction efforts were hampered by shelling from Russian forces on the eastern bank of the Dnieper River.

On June 22, four Kherson residents were injured in a shelling. “Such bombardments are our most serious problem,” Sergeyev said.

Ngoc Anh (According to AFP )

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