'The waters were snapping at our heels' - flood survivors in Russian-held Ukraine recount rescue

Record ID: 1728806

  • Title: 'The waters were snapping at our heels' - flood survivors in Russian-held Ukraine recount rescue
  • Date: 9th June 2023
  • Summary: HOLA PRYSTAN, KHERSON REGION, RUSSIAN-CONTROLLED UKRAINE (JUNE 8, 2023) (REUTERS) BOAT WITH EVACUEES ARRIVING WOMAN HOLDING BIRD CAGE ON BOAT RESCUERS HELPING EVACUEES OFF BOAT MORE BOATS ARRIVING EVACUATED WOMAN RESTING RESCUERS HELPING MAN OFF BOAT EVACUATED WAITING (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) LOCAL RESIDENT, RETIRED TELEPHONE STATION ENGINEER, MARIA MIKHAILOVNA, 73, SAYING: "I was woken up by my husband at 2:30 in the morning. The water in the house was at waist level. At midnight everything had been dry - both inside and outside. (REPORTERS ASKING: How did you save yourself?) Oh, that was a whole saga. We (my husband and I) can hardly walk. We went outside. We were lucky that there passers-by. They helped us to get to the "Vostok" shop. Then we limped on to our friends." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) LOCAL RESIDENT, RETIRED TELEPHONE STATION ENGINEER, MARIA MIKHAILOVNA, 73, SAYING: "(At one point) we went outside to check how the situation was, and saw that, in Shkolny Sidestreet, the waters were already snapping at our heels. So we rushed to the kindergarten. It was close by. So we stayed in the kindergarten. The guys (rescuers) did a great job." WOMAN WITH BABY BOY IN EVACUATION BUS BOY WAVING GIRL WITH KITTEN IN EVACUATION BUS WOMAN WALKING TO EVACUATION BUS WITH 8-MONTH-OLD TODDLER IN HER ARMS LOCAL RESIDENTS WALKING TO BUS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) LOCAL RESIDENT, EKATERINA, 27, SAYING: "The military came and asked us to leave. (REPORTER ASKING: And you followed their orders?) Yes. (REPORTER ASKING: How has it been with a toddler?) We were only flooded yesterday, this morning. Before that everything was normal." CHAIN OF BOATS FLOATING DOWN STREET MAN CARRYING BICYCLE MAN SAILING AWAY VARIOUS OF MAN STEERING BOAT VARIOUS OF HOUSES FLOODED VARIOUS OF BOATS TRAVELLING IN OTHER DIRECTION VARIOUS OF HOUSES FLOODED MAN ON ROOF PETTING DOG GOATS AND HENS ON DRY PATCH OF LAND (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) LOCAL RESIDENT, OKSANA, SAYING: "We ended up at the kindergarten because our house was carried away by a torrent of water." VARIOUS OF CAT IN BAG BOAT SAILING AWAY FLOODED CHURCH
  • Embargoed: 23rd June 2023 08:19
  • Keywords: DAM FLOOD HOLA PRYSTAN KHERSON RESCUE RUSSIA SURVIVAL UKRAINE
  • Location: HOLA PRYSTAN, KHERSON REGION, RUSSIAN-CONTROLLED UKRAINE
  • City: HOLA PRYSTAN, KHERSON REGION, RUSSIAN-CONTROLLED UKRAINE
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Europe,Floods
  • Reuters ID: LVA001865609062023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Pensioner Maria Mikhailovna says she was woken by her husband in the middle of the night to find their belongings underwater after the collapse of Ukraine's giant Nova Kakhovka Dam.
    "The water in the house was at waist level. At midnight everything had been dry - both inside and outside," said the 73-year-old, who walks slowly with the help of a stick.
    "We can hardly walk. We went outside and were lucky that there were passers-by. They helped us to get to the 'Vostok' shop. Then we limped on to our friends," she told Reuters.
    With water snapping at their heels, she and her husband then moved on from place to place, she said in the Russian-controlled town of Hola Prystan in Ukraine's southern Kherson region, adding that she was grateful to her rescuers.
    They were brought to safety with other pensioners on Thursday in a rubber boat crewed by rescuers from Russia's Emergencies Ministry.
    Russian forces took control of Hola Prystan, a town where around 13,000 people once lived, last year as part of what Moscow calls its "special military operation."
    After the vast Soviet-era Kakhovka Dam crumbled on Tuesday - a human and ecological disaster which Russia and Ukraine have blamed on each other - rubber dinghies have replaced cars in the town's streets.
    Animals and people sheltered on roofs on Thursday: in one surreal scene a small group of goats and hens stood on what looked like part of a roof surrounded by floodwater as rescuers in dinghies passed by.
    The first one or two stories of houses and people's yards were underwater and an emerald green church was semi-submerged, with the tops of trees poking out from the water in places.
    Rescuers in boats scoured the town for survivors, shouting out the addresses they had checked to one another.
    Many of those rescued appeared elderly but small children and their mothers were also among those helped to safety.
    One woman had her pet cat in their bag and one elderly lady clutched a birdcage as she was ferried to dry land.
    A woman who gave her name as Oksana held back tears as she and her daughter were evacuated in a boat with their two pet dogs.
    "We ended up at the kindergarten because our house was carried away by a torrent of water," said Oksana, as her daughter turned her head away to sob.
    * This content was produced in a part of Ukraine controlled by Russia, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register