This footage was filmed and produced 17 April 2024.

Lyudmila Mostovshchikova and her sisters Natalya and Larisa lived in one large house in the Podgora district. Their house was completely under water. Now all 3 are women are in an evacuation point together with their rescued pet parrot Kesha.

SOUNDBITE 1, Lyudmila Mostovshchikova, flood victim:

01:15 - 01:23
We collected our things and were waiting. Then we went to check what had happened to the dam. 

01:24 - 01:26
And suddenly people started screaming: "Run away, run away!"

01:27 - 01:37
We took all the necessary things, and Larisa also took all she needed. We forgot some stuff and went from our home.

01:38 - 01:42
Our lovely Kesha (bird) doesn't let us sleep. 

01:43 - 02:01
He was also stressed by this. His feathers were everywhere on the table and on the floor. And then he calmed down. That’s it, he didn’t pinch himself. We thought that the water would be small, but the water rushed and we had to run away.

02:02 - 02:09
Our house had three rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a balcony.

02:11 - 02:14
That was our dad's house. That house was our heritage. 

02:16 - 02:32
They promised us to rebuild our houses once again after the water will be gone. They paid us some money, and the government is also planning to pay compensation for our house. But howcome? It's impossible to pay the entire amount for our home. 

02:33 - 02:41
We had 3 refrigerators there, washing machines, and other equipment. And everything has sunk now.   



In the village of Beloye, near Petropavlovsk, one of the evacuation points. Here they help the residents of the flooded village of Dolmatovo. There are 35 at the point and people are expecting even more flood victims in the near future. 

SOUNDBITE 2, Gulnar Kasenova, social teacher at the school in the village of Beloye

04:09 - 04:13
I am welcoming the entire village of Dolmatovo here.

04:14 - 04:17
Today, 35 people have settled with us. 

04:18 - 04:23
But we are expecting more people from the flooded village of Sokolovka. Some of the rescue teams members told today to be ready to receive 50 more people. 

04:24 - 04:33
We have all the premises ready, beds ready, mattresses and pillows, as well as food, we were provided by local authorities. But other than that, people carry everything. 

04:34 - 04:44
We have 2 separate rooms for males. We are taking care of them. They were fully dressed, including T-shirts and underwear, even shoes.

04:45 - 04:51
They also have bags, we have provided them with medical kits, so in case they leave our place,
their things will save them and keep them alive for several days. 

04:52 - 05:05
People are bringing everything. We have enough products. There is only one urgent thing we need. We need medicines for those who are elderly here. Most of them are hypertensives. We have doctors here on 24/7 duty.



Valentina Fedoseeva is one of those evacuated to the village of Beloe from the flooded village of Dolmatovo. She is at the evacuation point with her elderly mother.

SOUNDBITE 3, Valentina Fedoseeva, flood victim: 

05:06 - 05:09
We had floods, but they were not so strong.

05:10 - 05:19
When water came, firstly, the government was thinking that everything was under control and there was no need to evacuate people from their houses. 

05:20 - 05:29
Until April 15—that was a catastrophic day—when they began to lose control and local officials said they would like to evacuate us. 

05:30 - 05:50
We lost our houses. This was really scary.
Then we were taken to a local school. We were there until 1.30 am, then the lights were turned on and they said we would evacuate. Where they dug in the dam, it was broken through into the street water gushed out. 

05:50 - 06:00
If we relax now, if we give in to hysteria, what will this give us?

06:00 - 06:10
We can't change anything. There is only God above us. Thats All. As it will be, so it will be. We have to accept this situation.



Alla Dmitrieva is also at the evacuation point in the village of Beloye. Her husband and farm animals, thanks to which the family provided itself with milk and meat, were left behind in the village of Dolmatovo. A woman worries that animals that are important to them could die in a flood.

SOUNDBITE 4, Alla Dmitrieva, flood victim:

06:11 - 06:15
I don’t know if my cow was milked or not. We released her (cow). 

06:15 - 06:21
The employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations did not let me look for my husband and take him with me, they said that he had been evacuated, he was in the village. They saw him over there alive.

06:22 - 06:42
We have a big house in the village. The flooding only started today, it wasn’t too much.
I could pick up my husband so that he could take my son and me to the city. Could handle cattle. 

06:43 - 06:51
The calf is not fed, young animals are flooded. I don’t know whether he will be saved or whether he will drown. 

06:52 - 07:09
It was all quick. I don't realize how we were rescued from home. I only took a bag with documents, my child took warm clothes, I took medicine, although it was possible not to take it because this evacuation point had everything, as they were saying to us.



Darkhan Abay is a resident of the flooded microdistrict “Zarechny” of the city of Petropavlovsk. From the flood zone, the student and his parents were evacuated to another microdistrict of the city, where now the family is forced to rent an apartment.

SOUNDBITE 5, Darkhan Abay, flood victim:

08:07 - 08:10
We did not expect such a strong flood. We left urgently. 

08:11 - 08:22
That day, emergency services officers and rescue teams came to us in the morning and gave us a notification that today there would be an evacuation. 

08:23 - 08:28
We were informed that we had to leave the Zarechny microdistrict by 18.00 in the evening.

08:29 - 08:40
We quickly collected everything, namely our things. We didn't have time to take out the electronic devices. I saw photos from the drone and looked at how the situation was outside.

08:41 - 08:43
I will say that this is complete cruelty. 

08:43 - 08:56
Our house is empty there and now we are worried that there will be looters. Because of this, my dad wanted to stay there, but he was forcibly taken out of there. They said they would give him 15 days of imprisonment or fine us.