Flooding in the Transcarpathian region: the liquidation of the aftermath continues

Today, November 23, Transcarpathian rescuers announced the current information about the flood

In the State Emergencies Service of Ukraine Office in Transcarpathian region, there was a briefing dedicated to coverage of the latest information on the situation with flood in the region. The head of the State Emergencies Service Office Roman Hudak, the head of the Transcarpathian Regional Centre for Hydrometeorology Vasyl Manivchuk and the chief of the Tisa Basin Water Management Administration Volodymyr Chipak were the speakers at the event.

According to Roman Hudak, during 20-22 of November, intense precipitations were observed in the region which led to flooding of settlements, houses and infrastructure in Tyachiv, Rakhiv, Mizhhirya, Volovets and Irshava districts. In total 401 households (including 168 residential houses), 17 hectares of farmland were flooded, 3 wooden and 2 metal bridges were damaged, three metal crossing points were destroyed.

On November 21-23, 13 vehicles and 67 personnel members of the State Emergencies Service Office were engaged to pump out the water and clean roadside ditches. Rescuers pumped more than a thousand cubic meters of water out of nearly two hundred households (including 136 residential buildings). As of now, 13 households and 16 basements remain flooded – in Mizhhirya, Tyachiv and Rakhiv districts. Fortunately, there were no casualties and injuries, and no destroyed buildings.

At the same time Volodymyr Chipak said that the disaster damaged 2 km of dams and 1.5 kilometers of bank reinforcement. In the mountains flood wave reached 2 m 30 cm, and in the flat Transcarpathia – 5 m. Currently, water levels in rivers have dropped by 0,7-2 m. To protect the region from the devastating effects of flooding in the future, according to the chief of the Tisa Basin Water Management Administration, it is necessary to establish a systemic and adequate funding for the program of flood protection.

Vasyl Manivchuk in an interview with reporters said that during three days, 1.5x the monthly norm of precipitation has fallen in the region. The heaviest rain was observed in the vicinity of Rakhiv and the village of Ust-Chorna in Tyachiv district. In the coming days, according to weather forecasts, weather situation in Transcarpathia will remain stable. No rain is expected until Saturday. On Sunday, another cyclone will come to the region, but there is no risk of repeated flooding.