Residents on the front lines of Ukraine’s Russian side were today surveying the damage caused to their flooded homes by waters of the Kakhovka Dam and waiting for help from the authorities while others searched for information about their people online.

Russian-appointed officials ordered residents of three areas to evacuate their homes as waters rose on Tuesday, as Ukraine and Russia blamed each other for blowing up the dam.

Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-appointed governor of occupied Kherson, declared a state of emergency in the region. So far, 1,500 people have been evacuated from flooded settlements and 48 temporary shelters have been set up, he said.

In the town of Nova Kahovka, right next to the dam, brown water has covered the main streets which are almost empty. On the bank of the Dnieper, next to the Energia stadium, small trees have been submerged in water almost up to their leaves. In neighborhoods, locals stand next to their flooded cars, knee-deep in water.

Ukraine

Valery Melnik, 53, examines what was salvaged from his home. A refrigerator and a green sofa stand in the water while objects of some value have been placed in higher places.

“We’re waiting for the water to go away, then we’ll dry it out,” Melnik said. He added that he was hoping that some help would arrive from the local authorities to pump out the water but “so far they are not doing anything”.

Ukraine

Ukraine

According to the Moscow-appointed mayor, Vladimir Leontiev, about 100 people are trapped in that city. By noon today the water level in Nova Kahovka had started to drop, he claimed in an interview posted on his Telegrafm channel. Six hundred homes, a kindergarten, a school and a monastery were flooded and 900 people were evacuated, he added.

Earlier, Leontiev said that 30,000 cubic meters of water are leaking from the reservoir every second and the city is at risk of contamination due to the floods, TASS news agency reported.

Many people told Reuters they had been unable to contact relatives in the flooded areas and were looking for information on online newsgroups.

Ukraine

Ukraine

A little further down, in the village of Stara Zburivka, residents are helping each other to leave in small boats, said Katia, a woman from the area who now lives outside Ukraine. In her village discussion group, residents reported that the water was up to their chests. About 20 people live in this community, he added.

“No one understands how painful it is when your childhood home is lost under water. There are animals and old people there. I hope they are rescued quickly,” said Katia.