Russia’s Volunteer Aid Capacity, On Vivid Display in Krymsk, Is Absent in Dagestan · Global Voices
Lost lives and destroyed livelihoods in Derbent are another reminder of the passivity and incompetence with which Russian authorities respond to disasters.
The night before Wednesday, October 10, heavy rain fell on the town of Derbent in Dagestan, a mountainous republic of Russia’s North Caucasus. Water surged through the streets forming flash floods and bringing devastation. According to the local authorities, 6 people died, buried under a mudslide; 320 houses flooded; and around 1,200 townspeople were trapped in the affected areas.
On the day of the flood, YouTube user <PERSON> captured the resulting havoc:
Photojournalist and blogger <PERSON>, known online as macos [ru], visited Derbent ten days later; his account of what he witnessed can be found on his LiveJournal [ru].
In the disaster's aftermath, Dagestani officials visited the houses affected by the flood and deemed them once again habitable. <PERSON>'s report [ru], however, paints a different picture. Some houses were destroyed completely, and many need significant repairs before they could be used as homes again. <PERSON> also describes Derbent locals working tirelessly to clear the roads and remove the mud and stones from their houses. 148
Residents spent over a week cleaning up the town, a task that forced many to abandon their day jobs temporarily.
The town's water supply was also damaged, but a cistern with drinking water took days to arrive. In the meantime, residents had no choice but to buy bottled water. Officials finally restored potable water to Derbent a full two weeks after the flood, on October 24, according to a local news source [ru].
The locals’ commitment to helping each other stands in stark contrast to the authorities’ apparent indifference. In one of <PERSON>'s photos [ru], a woman and her son can be seen cleaning a house that belongs to their neighbor, an 83-year-old literature teacher who lives alone.
Flood aftermath in Krymsk, 11 July 2012, photo by <PERSON>, copyright © Demotix.
In his account, <PERSON> draws parallels [ru] between the disaster in Derbent and the devastating flood that hit Krymsk earlier this year, where at least 171 people died and thousands of houses were submerged. Several local officials had been fired when citizen complained that authorities failed to warn them of the danger.
Казалось, что “крымская” история больше никогда не должна повториться: трагедия, всколыхнувшая всю страну, долго была в центре внимания общества. В зону чрезвычайного положения под Краснодаром приезжали политики и чиновники всех мастей, тысячи волонтёров, обычных людей, которые хотели помочь. […]
То, что случилось в Дербенте, очень похоже на события в Крымске. 146