"Why are you panicking"

A report from the sunken Orsk, whose inhabitants are furious due to the fact that no one tried to prevent the tragedy

April 5, 2024 in Orsk - the second largest population and the industrial value of the city of the Orenburg region - broke through the dam. The mass evacuation of people of several villages-raions began, who fell into the flood zone.

According to the latest data, about seven thousand residential buildings are flooded in the city. Investigators have already opened criminal cases under the articles “Violation of safety rules for construction and other works” and “negligence”.

The correspondent of Novaya Gazeta Baltiya went to Orsk to look at how the city, encountered disaster due to a number of mistakes of local authorities, lives.

The text was first published on the website of Novaya Gazeta Baltic.

"A serious test of the dam for strength"

On the approach to Orsk, the Aeroflot Salon Salon from Moscow is reviving. A connection appears, and people begin to feverishly update the telegram channels of local media. Their news feed has been devoted to one event for more than a week, as a live confirmation of which in the window the ranks of two -story houses flooded on the roof are visible. On the evening of April 3, a dam built in 2014, which defended Orsk from the Ural River, was visited by the head of the city Vasily Kozupitsa. On his VKontakte page, he wrote that local residents have no fears because of the flood. The publication ended with the words "floods of this year - the first and serious test of the dam to strength."

Aeroflot flight is landed at Orsk Airport. The taxi driver apologizes-due to the flood, you will have to go along the district road, the path lengthened for 15–20 minutes. He says: “You can still wash, but there is no longer drinking. The authorities demand to boil several times, of course, nobody does so - everyone just buys store. In supermarkets, it has long ended in still, everyone has tea with a mineral smack. ”

On the evening of April 5, it became obvious that the ladies did not pass the strength of the strength. The waters of the Urals and other rivers broke off the embankments and rushed into the city. Previously, the Urals divided Orsk into two halves - the Old City and the "European" new city geographically belonging to Asia. “Now Asia has become Venice,” the local resident Maxim is bitterly ironic, “and hens, apparently, swans.”

Maxim takes out swamp boots from the trunk of an SUV - they comfortably close their legs to the waist, one trouble - they went up several times in all households - and is sternly baptized. Slowly steps on a strip of asphalt, which gradually narrows and goes under water. Maxim with an effort breaks his way through the cubic meters of green-brown mass. Its goal is a garage on Vyazemskaya Street in a new city, which also reached water. Maxim wants to pull spare parts, tackle for fishing and hunting from a closed garage. The door is reluctantly succumbed to, creaks - and Maxim goes inside. The picture is watched by bored firefighters and local residents. According to Maxim, some "from other areas come to tourist review, it would be funny if it were not so sad."

"There is nothing more"

The site of Vyazemskaya street, related to the new city, separates from the old railway track. By hastily fortified stones and black crushed stone paths, a train rushes. It was as if men of about sixty in tracksuits do not notice him: they smoke thoughtfully, looking at the house flooded on the other side. Men are presented - Viktor Dmitrievich and Alexander Ivanovich. “Here are our gardens, at home,” they say. - We lived here from spring to late autumn. There were refrigerators, and TVs, and microwaves, and gas equipment. There is nothing more. ” The residents noticed the approaching water on the day of April on April. And then everything happened rapidly: in an hour, the level of flooding changed from “knee -deep” to “windows of the first floor”.

The old city turned into a lifeless wasteland. The rows of straight streets are filled with water, which rose a few meters. Smooted by a power station, hundreds of garages, personal plots. Scattered children's toys swim lonely. Behind the mesh steel fence, the abandoned dog lonely looks at the greenish surface surrounding it from all sides.

Most likely, he had not eaten for several days, so he does not even have the strength to bark - only thinly whine from hopelessness.

On April 6, the operational services told TASS that the dam, unable to withstand the flow of water, completely collapsed. However, the press service of the regional government denied information about the complete destruction of the dam, noting that "the current on one of the damage was suspended." According to the mayor of Vasily Kozupitsa, half of the old city is flooded. He stated that in 2024 there was an abnormally high flood and that there was no such discharge of water from the largest reservoir of the Southern Urals of the Iriklinsky reservoir yet - 2170 cubic meters per second. “The level of the Ural River this year, although in other water arteries, was higher than average,” the mayor reported. - The dangerous level of the Ural river is 7 meters, and the next morning it was (and is still growing) - 9.27. Most likely, the dam simply got a level that is above critical. The situation is rapidly developing for the worse. And today, in a few hours, the water rose by 4 meters. Now all services are working to save people. ” In the Orenburg region, a federal emergency regime was declared . Soon after the flooding of the city’s authorities, they organized temporary accommodation points in schools.

"It was already impossible to endure"

In the center of the new city is relatively calm. The steppe dusty air blews the walls of the Khrushchevs with hastily smeared links to telegram channels, offering drugs and sex services. On other walls - graffiti with the names of the authors and even the inscription Free Navalny. At the monument to Lenin, next to the building of the city administration is deserted - only teenagers in the tracks of Adidas, camouflage and T -shirts with the emblem of Russia are sitting groups. Behind the spruce several men in jeans and black turtlenecks smoke a cigarette behind a cigarette, constantly glancing at the square. Just a day ago, several hundred inhabitants of Orsk reached a spontaneous rally here. “Everything was already so fucked up that it was already impossible to endure,” says one of the eyewitnesses, “the cops there about the illegality of megaphones, but everyone was already deep. Is it possible to scare the people who literally lost their houses because of these clowns? And why did these cops shouted at us, and did not help people save?! ”

The gathered at the rally chanted "Putin, help!" And "Shame!" to the local authorities. Vasily, the coming couture, was interrupted by questions about compensation. The meeting was subsided only after some people were invited to the administration building to a meeting with the governor of the Orenburg region Denis Pasler. Her official began with the usual accusation: “Honestly, I am surprised at a number of comrades. I have been here with you all days, I could never even change clothes. For the first time in five years I took a vacation for two weeks and did not go. ” True, then

The governor promised to pay 10 thousand rubles to the victims for renting housing and creating a commission that would assess the damage and determine the amount of additional compensation.

Not far from the administration about record floods resemble wet ruts of roads and giant puddles in the yards of residential buildings. On the doors of the temporary placement points (PVR), files with “security measures” from the last tragedy, the terrorist attack in Crocus, are adjacent to the enumerations of addresses at which the victims of the flood can apply. Near the building a huge Russian flag is cut - in 2021, Vladimir Putin supported the idea daily in all schools in the country. Inside the PVR stale air. Volunteers scream - they carry water, dry things and products. In impromptu beds similar to sick leave, pensioners are lying and crosswords decide. An employee of the Russian Guard noticed in me for prohibits people to approach, threatening to arrest.

"Absolute Burdak in the country"

In another PVR, guards with the Rosgvardists prohibit passing without a press card: “Why are people to nervous, they have already suffered.” At the exit from the building, it is possible to catch a married couple with a child. Irina and Stanislav are residents of the village of Pervomaisky in the eastern part of Orsk, which took on a blow before the old city. “We noticed the first water on the morning of April 5,” Irina shares, “she approached every hour, we put pegs, measured. Already at 17:00 we understood that it was dangerous to stay at home. We took the child, threw it into the car that we could, from household appliances and went to friends in a new city. ”

According to the couple, by the night of April 6, the water almost completely flooded the first floor of their house. A few days later, in marsh boots, they went to their site. “Throw a kitchen set, throw a stove, throw a sofa and a chair, throw out the bedside tables, throw everything out beds,” they say. “Just the wallpaper began to move away, the plaster falls off, and all the wooden floors were swollen.” Future repairs Irina and Stanislav estimate at least 1 million rubles. They do not count on compensation: to receive it, you need to wait for experts, "in the meantime they arrive, we will have the whole house with mold." It is impossible to get through either to the district and city administration, nor to the commission.

Irina and Stanislav feel deceived. In the insurance company they were informed that payments are not due to the fact that the city’s emergency mode has been introduced. Moreover, the house was bought in a mortgage. In the hearts, Irina states: “Is it the point of paying it now? It is now impossible to live there. My husband told me so - I just stop sending them payments, let the house take the house through the court. Only who will need him? Another option is to hire good lawyers and spread everyone, but we will spend more money on them than we will return from our precious state. The country has an absolute mess. There are no words. ”

"People thought it was some kind of jokes"

In another PVR, the guards sitting under the portrait of Putin and Litera Z in the colors of the St. George ribbon already indicate the door with the usual gesture. The people gathered for a smoke break are happy to share their experience. Catherine - small in stature, in a tracksuit and rubber slaps - a trash in the hands of a burning cigarette, praises volunteers: “The school is very good, and they feed perfectly. The guys drive up days and nights, bring water, diapers, clothes and shoes. As soon as we ask for something in the chat, they literally arrive for half an hour. Teachers are engaged in young children. There are even psychologists! At 22:00, everyone hunes up, grandmothers strictly monitor. ”

And then I ask a question that before that brought all the inhabitants of Orsk, with whom I spoke, into absolute rage. It sounds like this:

“The head of the Ministry of Emergencies [on the air of Russia 24] stated that the evacuation was announced a week before the flood. Is it so? "

The complete quote from the Minister of Civil Defense, Emergency Situations and the Elimination of the Consequences of the Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, a member of the Council of People's Commissars of the Security Council of Alexander Kurenkov was felled in the best traditions of the victim’s prosecution: “The evacuation was declared a week ago. People did not make a decision, they thought that they were some kind of jokes. There are no jokes here. We saved one person for half an hour. This situation can last another week. Here they are sitting, these people, in the windows, what will they eat? They will have to carry food to everyone. ”

Several people of the PVR are switching to a cry: “This is complete nonsense!”, “They lie, brazenly lie!”, “Bitches, you need to drive them all!” For the first time, people learned about the flood when the water reached their houses. Many had to run away hastily, it was possible to take only the essential things. Catherine shares: “In general, nothing was informed anyone. The neighbor called me, said that after five minutes the water would reach our street. My husband and I are children in an armful, some panties-cuts under the mouse and run without looking back. The house and documents remained, and the cats, for which I am worried. If they said in advance, we would have managed to take out at least some of the things. When the water comes down, we will look at our homes with bitter tears. What if they have long sailed to dick somewhere for a long time?! "

"Why are you panicking"

Another woman, without front teeth, supplements: residents of the streets closest to the Ural Street River called the Ministry of Emergencies early in the morning of April 5, when "all the hairs of water flowed." In response, they heard the impressive "What are you, the old city, panic, everything is under control." However, residents note that rescuers corrected during the evacuation: about 500 employees of the Ministry of Emergencies were sent to the city, who continuously exported small people on boats.

But everyone could not be saved. “In the old city, an old grandmother slept during the flood,” says Ekaterina. - Her Emergencies arrived to save, but could not get through. They swam into the house, but they didn’t find anyone inside. And when they began to advance from the house, she literally surfaced in the yard with her son. Apparently, they choked or covered them with a wave. ” Another victim, Olga, in a down jacket and large sunglasses, shares the history of his neighbors: the man climbed to the roof to drag things when his thrombus broke off his nerves.

In addition to destruction and death, the main problem of the victims is looters. All inhabitants of the affected areas are said about them. Catherine notes: “They swim in boats, break the glass and take everything that comes to hand. The shops in the old city have long been cleaned. Unscrupulous people. " Irina and Stanislav tell the story of a neighbor who remained to guard his partially flooded house in the car. At night, "a man came with a cart and began to look behind the fence." The neighbor took out the gun and threatened them, he immediately ran away. According to another resident of the PVR, if the looters are caught, they are arranged by lynching and cruelly beaten. Police prefer not to follow the thieves.

"Liquid plasticine"

The old -timers of Orsk agree that the main reason for the breakthrough of the dam was negligence. Viktor Dmitrievich believes that the dam was not tamped enough, the earth remained loose and easily amenable to external influence. In his opinion, the work was not performed well enough due to the fact that more than 900 million rubles allocated for construction was cut. When independent experts in 2013 tried to indicate violations, the court sided with the authorities. According to Viktor Dmitrievich, this happened due to the fact that they began to build a dam under the mayor of Orsk Yuri Berg, who in 2010 became the governor of the Orenburg region. “And who will go against the governor? - Viktor Dmitrievich asks the question. - Naturally, they will say that everything is fine. According to the project and according to the budget. So it got out. According to the budget. The dam is wet and turned into liquid plasticine. ”

An elderly man named Alexander (he has been living in Orsk for almost 70 years) complains: during the construction of the dam, it was necessary to focus on the 1957 flood . It took place according to the same scenario as in 2024: in April, as a result of the spring flood, the Urals came out of the shores and flooded the nearest areas. Even photos of two natural disasters are very similar. Alexander states: “They made a dam according to the indicators of the last 30 years, thought that seven meters [to which water rises] enough. And it was necessary to look at the 1957th with its indicators of more than nine meters. ”

"Gophers will not go to the rally"

The director of Sergei Komarov, who participated in the construction of the lady of the company, had an alternative opinion on the damage to the dam, which he expressed on the air of the Channel One: the structure was damaged by gophers or marchings. “Having looked at the shooting, in which place the breakthrough turned out, the [human] factor fell off,” he said. “And only the factor remained-the rodents that could be protected this dam, and this 2-3-centimeter hole, holes, mink would have been enough for the water to go through the dam.”

Such an absurd lie, combined with the scale of destruction, gave rise to many aphorisms and jokes among the inhabitants of Orsk. Teenage girls from the theater-game group O'Kay, who worked as volunteers in one of the PVR, retell the jokes of their parents: “They said that people were to blame, but people went to the rally. But the gophers will not go to the rally. ” Olga shows a new video to the PVR neighbors:

“They just sent: in the [area of ​​the city] Nickel Bobra sits. This, probably, the mayor of his brother called for them to resume new at home. "

Irina and Stanislav shared the option that their acquaintances came up with: “Bobra sprinkled the dam, the squirrels notified in a week, and for payments to the owl.”

Even the Minister of Construction of the Russian Federation, Irek Fayzullin, was ironic over the version with rodents. He called her “funny” and noted that Orsk was not protected enough. The official emphasized: “The lamb that they talk about in Orsk is not really a dam, the dam is not worth it. The dam suffered the load somewhere around 5.5 meters [water], in fact we had 10. С огромной скоростью, огромная масса воды надавила не на дамбу, а на земляной вал». Файзуллин пообещал, что специалисты его ведомства спроектируют для города «настоящую дамбу».

«К лодке его привязать»

Екатерина в ПВР разгневана: «Я Козупицу бы взяла за шкирку с его сусликом, связала, положила в мешок и кинула его к дамбе. И пускай бы удерживал воду. А его хабары людям отдать. Наворовал на всём, а мы из-за него теперь бомжи. Или к лодке его привязать насильно и не отпускать, пока всех не вывезет. Пусть людей спасает, а не жопу свою дома греет». Ненависть и злость жителей ПВР направлена только в сторону местных властей. Они молятся, чтобы Владимир Путин прислал к ним своего специалиста, который приедет и сделает «по-человечески». Эти слова не очень нравятся одной из женщин, но она, видимо, не хочет портить отношения с соседями, с которыми придется жить дальше, поэтому она просто прерывает разговор о Путине: «Представляете, сегодня на Никеле обнаружили поросенка! Видимо, он приплыл на сухую землю. С участков убежал и выжил, прибился. Его теперь на свинину пускать нельзя, герой!»

Один из руководителей волонтеров на основании своего опыта работы во время предыдущих стихийных действий пытается предсказать последствия:

• Политические : поиск виновных, судебные дела. На это уйдет несколько месяцев;

• Экономические : люди будут получать компенсации, восстанавливать дома, просушивать здания — 5–6 месяцев;

• Социальные : восстановление инфраструктуры и перестраивание города — 1–2 года.

По предложению одного из жителей ПВР отправляюсь в поселок «Старая Биофабрика» на северной окраине Орска, где подъем Урала совпал с таянием талых вод. Песчано-грунтовая насыпь здесь защищает большую часть домов от повторения судьбы Старого города. С возвышенности видны уходящие за горизонт участки, полностью покрытые водой. У объездной дороги в низине несколько выдр маневрируют между затопленными могилами. Виднеется свежий деревянный крест и венки с ленточками в виде российских флагов.