The southern Urals is drying out after the "big waters"

30.09.2013 — Analysis

The Chelyabinsk region is gradually recovering from the August floods.

Winter is on its way, but most of the damaged infrastructure has now been repaired. Heat will be provided on schedule in all municipalities. RusBusinessNews has the details about how the residents of the southern Urals managed to fend off the surge of the "big waters" and worked quickly to restore the areas affected.

The powerful deluge struck the Chelyabinsk region in early August 2013. As a result of the continuous downpour, rivers burst their banks and flooded rural towns and villages. Total damages were estimated at 2.5 billion rubles.

The Nagaybaksky, Kizilsky, Varna, and Kartli districts were the hardest hit.

The Agapovka district also took a heavy blow. Sixty-five farmhouses flooded there, and 186 people were affected. The "big waters" also caused serious harm to roads and bridges. Over 4 kilometers of roadway, plus two viaducts and their entrances were destroyed. The roads in the villages of Primorsky, Agapovka, Narovchatka, Kharkovsky, Yangelsky, and Ablyazovo were completely washed away. About 20 thousand hectares of farmland also vanished under the water, including 15 thousand that had already been sown.

The first thing that had to be done was to create safe living conditions for the residents of Agapovka. Stations were set up to find accommodations for the displaced, temporary roads were laid, and electricity and gas supplies were restored.

As soon as the river began to recede, work began to restore infrastructure and resettle the residents whose houses had been entirely destroyed by the elements. Existing homes were obtained for them to use as new residences.

Mikhail Yurevich, the governor of the Chelyabinsk region, set a goal - to get the ruined roads back up and running by Oct. 1, 2013. In mid-September, Igor Murog, the region's deputy governor who oversees the Agapovsky district, reported that the goal had been met. Two bridges and two dams were built within the municipality, and all the affected roadways were repaired. "I'm pleased with the results. The deadlines established by the governor were met very precisely," noted I. Murog.

He noted that the residents of flooded homes each received 10 thousand rubles from the regional budget, and they are now being paid an additional 50 thousand rubles per household. In addition, the municipality has already started to receive federal compensation.

I. Murog noted that not a single residential building in the Agapovsky district had been destroyed completely. Therefore, the flooded homes must be dried out and repaired before the onset of winter weather.

Because winter is fast approaching, officials are particularly focusing on preparing the flood-affected areas for the heating season. All 23 of the boilers that provide heat to consumers will be operating in the Agapovsky district by Oct. 1.

The officials of the Verkhneuralsky district, which was also plagued by the "big waters," are prepared to keep their inhabitants warm as well. Although it is true that the elements did not cause serious "injuries" there.

A state of emergency was declared in certain communities - Verkhneuralsk, the village of Forshtadt, and the rural towns of Estonsky, Kidyshevsky, and Smelovsky. Several roads were damaged, including the highways of Surmenevsky - Verhneuralsk - Petropavlovsky and Urlyadinsky - Lozhkina - Mezhozerny. There, the road beds and surfaces were washed away. But the roads were restored quickly. The bridge across the Maly Kizil River is scheduled to be operating again by Oct. 20, 2013.

Public utilities facilities were spared by the flood. At the end of September, the Verhneuralsky district was 98.2% prepared for freezing temperatures (which is higher than the average for the region).

The village of Parizh (in the Nagaybaksky district) is also waiting for cold weather before turning on the heat. The head of the municipality, Kairbek Seilov, told RusBusinessNews that social institutions would be provided with heat as soon as early October. The heat will be switched on in residential buildings as soon as the temperature drops to the appropriate level. Mr. Seilov noted that there were some problems, but there would be no serious glitches during the heating season.

At the peak of the flood, the village of Parizh almost completely vanished under the water. And that was the second time it had been flooded in a month. The first time occurred when the Kizil-Chilik River overflowed - about 600 residential buildings, roads, and bridges were inundated and power was shut off. The second time happened on Aug. 21. However, this time the water did not get farther than the gardens that lie along the river channel.

Officials in the Chelyabinsk region got the situation under control as soon as the flooding began. One-third of the residents of Parizh were put up in a school and kindergarten. The evacuees were provided with hot meals, and rescue teams, doctors, and psychologists were on duty around the clock. The homes abandoned by the villagers were guarded by police.

In addition, at M. Yurevich's order, every area affected by the flood was assigned a member of the government to act as a temporary contact person, who is personally in charge of the recovery work and preparations for winter. Sergei Komyakov, the chairman of the regional cabinet of ministers, assumed oversight of the Nagaybaksky district.

According to K. Seilov, three kilometers of new asphalt have already been laid, and about six miles of roadway and a bridge across the river have been repaired. Workers created an additional spillway, just in case the weather gets wild again. In addition, the Olginskaya dam that had burst through the road was restored. Traffic has resumed from Fershampenuaz to Parizh and to the villages of Yuzhny and Severny.

"About 30 million rubles has been allocated from the regional budget to restore the infrastructure of Parizh, 18 million of which was spent to patch up potholes in the streets. The repair of the bridge and the entrance to the village cost six million rubles, and three million was needed to fix four dams," explained K. Seilov.

He said that the high ground water was still getting into the basements of the school and kindergarten. "We tried to pump out the liquid, but it didn't work. The electrical room had to be moved from the basement to upstairs, in order to open the school by Sept. 1. That was how we were able to get everything moving academically. The preschool is still unable to take any children, but the kindergarten is totally ready for winter," said the head of the Nagaybaksky district.

In the Kartli district, heat will be supplied to the kindergartens, schools, and hospitals since Sept. 26. In houses, the radiators will warm up as soon as autumn truly comes into its own.

In general, there should be no fears concerning the recovery of the areas in the southern Urals that were affected by the flooding. We can rest assured that the municipalities conscientiously managed the aftermath of the crazy weather. They can look forward to turning on the heat, creating a budget for the next year, and battling with the flu, as well as their other normal, weighty concerns.

Marina Sirina