Krymsk, 40 days later

Krymsk today is a large bureaucratic machine, where residents are small nuts, constantly moving from office to office, in search of headquarters, commissions or the nearest photocopier. Neither the Ministry of Emergency Situations, nor the military, nor the volunteer detachments cruising around the city - such as were in July - are no longer visible.

Now Crimeans are in a hurry to somehow recover by the fall, before the cold weather begins. Some are already making repairs on their own and at their own expense, others are preparing to move to a new home, or maybe even to a new city. Payments of compensation to victims of 150 thousand rubles have already begun, so one of the longest queues is in the city court. Many were not registered in their homes or were renting housing at the time of the flood; now they need to prove their right to receive payments.

In addition to 150 thousand rubles per person, Crimeans are promised compensation for major home repairs - at the rate of 5 thousand rubles per square meter of living space. Outdoor extensions (such as summer kitchens) are not considered. And even then: which house needs major repairs is determined by the commission at its discretion.

Veselaya Street in Krymsk is now one of the saddest: most of the houses in this area have been demolished. Only a few residents have given up the opportunity to get new housing and are trying to restore the old one. “I was born here, my parents lived here. I won’t leave here. Moscow is behind us,” says Victor, one of the residents of Veselaya Street. However, he is not sure that the compensation will be enough for the entire renovation of the house - according to preliminary calculations, the amount will cover 2/3 of the costs.

And his neighbor Lydia, when she was offered to demolish the house, did not hesitate for a long time: “I need it to hell! I wish I could leave here as soon as possible. I was not born here. We just moved with our children from the Sverdlovsk region a year ago, and here it’s up to you , straightaway...". Her voice begins to tremble: “I can’t survive this anymore.” Now Lydia is in line for a certificate with which she can buy new housing in Krasnodar, Novorossiysk or Gelendzhik. For her family of three people the amount was one million eight hundred thousand rubles. She dreams of moving to Krasnodar, but, according to her, this money is only enough for a one-room apartment, she will have to add from her own.

In addition to the certificate, there is another option - the Krymsk-2 district, better known among the people as “Moldavanka”. But locals prefer not to talk about this option, and no one really knows what kind of housing there is. According to Indiana Yugai, a press secretary for the city administration, a military camp was being built in the area. After the flood, the Ministry of Defense donated housing to the “sunken people” (as the victims are called here). “Almost everything is ready for life there. The last works are being completed. A kindergarten and a school have been laid out first. But it’s very close to the city, a public transport line will also be launched,” says Yugai. She sincerely does not understand why the locals refuse this option: “They just don’t understand yet. They are afraid to go and look, many have still not recovered from the tragedy. It’s not as bad there as they say.”

The Moldavanka district is indeed very close to the city. From the place where the volunteer camp was located, it’s a 15-20 minute walk. Several teams of workers are working intensively here, finishing the finishing work. Very soon the first families will move here. In one of the houses, a young woman with a child and parents is inspecting a new apartment. They were lucky - in exchange for the demolished house, they would receive a 3-room apartment, the footage completely matching the lost housing. But the father (the family categorically refused to introduce themselves or be photographed) cannot come to terms with the future move. He promises to build a shed on the property and live in it. A new house can only be built after flood protection is built, and this, as they promise, will not be earlier than in 5 years.

Of the municipal buildings, the second school in Krymsk was the most fortunate to receive help. “After the flood, the delegation of Belarus brought humanitarian aid to Krymsk,” says school director Tatyana Muzyka (emphasis on the second syllable), “and when they arrived at the aid headquarters of the city of Anapa (it is located next to the school), they had the idea to take under their wing one of the schools, Tatyana Evsikova, the mayor of Anapa, asked them to help ours."

Now restoration work is being carried out under the patronage of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. He allocated 8 billion Belarusian rubles (approximately 31 million rubles) from the country’s budget and hired 52 workers from one of the leading construction organizations in the republic, OJSC Gradnopromstroy. Old Man wants the second school to become an example not only for Crimean, but also for Minsk schools. Tatyana Muzyka talked for a long time about how lucky she was with Lukashenko and how well Belarusian builders work. Listing the advantages of the school, she reports that her school is also the largest polling station in the city, and she herself, “by the way, is a municipal deputy.” "Which party?" — the director asks in surprise, and then answers a little embarrassedly: “From United Russia.”

The biggest impact of the wave on the night of July 7 hit the central area of ​​the city. This is where private business is mainly concentrated. Almost all stores are already operating as usual. The flower salon "U Inna" is also located here. Inna herself, a neat, petite middle-aged woman, sits in the far corner of the store, trimming roses. “We usually celebrate the Day of Love and Family on July 7th, for us it’s like the second Eighth of March,” says the owner. “Accordingly, on the 6th I went to Krasnodar, bought goods, left everything in the store in the evening. I thought I’d come in the morning, at about 5, I’ll get everything ready. And by morning it’s all washed away.”

No one knows exactly what compensation entrepreneurs are entitled to. It is probably known that the subsidy will not exceed 300 thousand rubles. They can give even less. “I only bought 230 thousand worth of goods then. I borrowed from the girls - I thought I’d quickly pay it off. And besides that, I had a lot of other things in the store. Even if they give me that much, that’s good. Nowadays, practically no one needs flowers “Since that night I don’t recognize Krymsk. The city died.”

Not far from the flower salon there is an optician. “We have two opticians in the city - and one completely drowned,” says the saleswoman in the salon. “There is more than a million worth of damage. If you’re lucky, they will give you 300 thousand. The rest, they say: “Take a loan.” They promise a rate of 1% do". Stores selling alcohol and tobacco products will not receive subsidies.

At the training ground at the entrance to Krymsk, where at one time there were camps for the Ministry of Emergency Situations, military personnel and volunteers, there are only 6 tents left. Local resident Alexander is sitting in the headquarters tent. Before the flood, he worked as a taxi driver, now he only delivers volunteers and humanitarian aid. “It’s all hard. Now, 40 days have been celebrated. I knew a lot of people. When I first saw the lists of the dead with their names, I somehow didn’t understand right away. And then I read the address next to each one - and that’s it... I’ve seen them all I know, I’ve been working here as a taxi driver for 12 years, I’ve picked up people at many of these addresses, and everyone’s faces appeared in front of me... And now there’s no one there,” Alexander says a little confusingly. “Why is there no one in the camp?” - “So the emergency situation on July thirtieth was lifted, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the military left. Although there is still plenty of work in the city. But volunteers cannot stay here forever.”

Another volunteer camp still exists in the village of Nizhnebakanskaya - this is the settlement most affected by the flood. There are about thirty volunteers left here, but they will all go home on the 21st. As the volunteers themselves say, they did most of the work and helped in any way they could.

On 40 days from the day of the flood in Nizhnebakanskaya, a pedestrian bridge across the river was opened. The bridge was named Andreevsky, in honor of the deceased volunteer Andrei Mareev, a life safety teacher from St. Petersburg. “We worked together on the last day,” says volunteer Alexander about his comrade, “and at the site he became ill. He asked his grandmother, the hostess, for pills, “Asparkam.” This means he understood what was happening to him that he had a heart problem. But, so as not to upset him, he said that his shoulder was hurting, something was wrong with the pulmonary artery. And at that time we were working, we left him alone, “Sit down, rest,” we said, “we are without. We'll handle you." Only the next day we found out that he asked for heart pills. Here, to the camp, when they brought him, it was fine, normal, and then that was it... The doctors didn't have time."

The “Good Camp” in Krymsk, that is, the part that remains of it, now has its own indoor warehouse for humanitarian aid - volunteers have been allocated premises not far from the Giant stadium. They no longer carry food; cots, small household appliances and a small portion of household goods are stored here.

The warehouse is managed by volunteer Alexey, a short, plump man of about fifty. He hitchhiked to Krymsk from Vladivostok. I traveled for 21 days. His blunt, straightforward speech, tattooed arms and frequent curling of his fingers raise speculation about his past. He himself speaks briefly about his former life in Primorye: he was born in Donetsk, went to serve in Vladivostok, where he stayed for 35 years. He worked as a builder, then as a laborer. He never got a family or an apartment. I packed my bag and left for Krymsk.

“On the evening of July 7, I watched the news - in the morning I was already outside Khabarovsk, standing on the highway,” says Alexey about his journey across the whole country. “Of course, it’s difficult to drive. Firstly, no one takes it. After all, among the bulk of truck drivers, who works? Drunks, womanizers, former bandits. But normal boys don’t even need to vote, they recruited me like that.” Alexey remembers the names of every driver who gave him a lift.

He told me how he was almost robbed twice: first by bandits near Krasnoyarsk, then by locals in Chita. “Well, in Samara I got out,” he continues his story, “I found out how much a ticket to Krymsk cost, and went to the mosque to earn money. Why to the mosque? Well, where else? People told me at the station - go to the mosque, they will help. Yes, they help everyone all over Russia. You won’t get any help from our church. I earned two hundred from them. I took a ticket and came here at night.” Now Alexey plans to stay in Krymsk forever: “I want to find a lonely woman. Even with many children. The main thing is that she doesn’t drink or smoke, like me.”