"I Hear The Water": Kostanay Residents in Evacuation Centers Shared Stories about Flood

In Kostanay, a rehabilitation center, the former Druzhba preventive clinic, has become a shelter for evacuees, reports Orda.kz.

Everyone in need of shelter was brought there initially. It was later decided to house only people with disabilities there, as many people in the institution are undergoing rehabilitation. Galina Zalyalova is optically challenged. She lived alone on Tobolskaya Street. 

I didn't want to leave, I didn't believe that the water would reach us. I didn't save anything in the house. What I was in was what I left in. It's the fourth time we've had a swim, but they used to help get things out somehow,  the woman says.

Her roommate didn't have time to pack her things either. 

They came, told me to take my documents and evacuate, I didn't have time to take anything with me, what I was wearing was what I left in. Thanks to my friend, she took my Anfisk and Ginger. A friend called and said that my house was flooded to the roof. I didn't want to believe it, I said, well, it can't be. The yard was flooded, but there was never such a thing as houses drifting away at roof height, says Lyubov Dordochkina.

There is a married couple on the other floor. Zinesh Bazarbayeva cannot walk. She and her husband evacuated immediately before the water became overwhelming. They have relatives, but they could not provid shelter. Their house had also been submerged.

We have been living on Krasny Kuznets Street for 40 years, but there had been no such flood. As soon as we were told to evacuate, we started packing, and an ambulance arrived for my wife. Some residents were waiting, but we immediately took everything and left, says Tuletay Bazarbayev.

10 people have been sheltered in the rehabilitation center thus far. They are fed three times a day.

Those being sheltered are satisfied with the accommodation. A pensioner with a peculiar name, Stalina Kuznetsova, began thanking the staff of the center from the threshold. She came in rubber boots with no socks. She had no belongings. 

They placed me in such beauty, thank you very much. I live in Tobolsk, they came and asked me to evacuate — and I told them: 'Get out of here, there will be no water!' Then in the evening, I looked, and the water was gushing. I put my boots in, let the dogs go, the cats on the roof, and ran from the house. It's part of the trouble with the house, how are my four-legged ones, they dine with me according to a schedule,"  the pensioner said.

The flooded houses are visible from the balcony of the rehabilitation center. Sergey Valiev has been living in the Gardener Cottage Society for 15 years. He had recently gathered building materials. He wanted to build a bathhouse and a veranda, but everything floated away. 

Rescuers arrived in organized groups to evacuate us. So organized and professional. Thanks to the volunteer girls, even the kitten was not injured. I didn't think there were such people. When you watch one thing on TV and another in person. When the water began to flow quickly, it was scary then. I left my animals in the kennel, I miss them already, they had such a look as if I abandoned them. I will come back for them as soon as possible, the man says.

Incidentally, volunteers are still saving people's four-legged friends. Volunteers of "The Nadezhda Plus kst Shelter" transport animals out of flooded areas on boats of caring people. A quadcopter is being used to search for cats and dogs. 

Many refused to evacuate without their pets, so first we took the animals, and then they were taken out by rescuers. Our shelter is located on an islet and is still on dry land. During these days, we have sheltered over two hundred animals. We hope the residents won't forget about their four-legged ones and come back for them later. Many even tied dogs at the door of our shelter and left,
 says Olga Solovyova.

Original Author: Ninel Zabludina

DISCLAIMER: This is a translated piece. The text has been modified, the content is the same. Please refer to the original text in Russian for accuracy.