The element is destroying the Republic of Russia. People are terrified. “We are preparing for the flood”

In the republic's capital, Makhachkala, the damage caused by the natural disaster could have been less if two small rivers had not been completely built over, filled in and diverted underground. Previously, the Tarnairka and Talginka rivers freely discharged rainwater collected in the mountains and the city into the Caspian Sea. Now they have overflowed the banks and underground pipes – and it turned out that they are capable of destroying even a multi-story building.

At the request of the Meduza website, local historian Albas Khanov, who was born and grew up in Makhachkala, reports what is happening on site:

My family has lived in Makhachkala for three generations. There were no floods at all in my childhood. The city was much more spacious, not so heavily built-up, and the Soviet-era sewage system was fine.

Makhachkala began to be built up at the beginning of the 21st century – quickly and chaotically. The reasons include land scarcity, influx of people from rural areas, poor control by local authorities and corruption in the land and construction sectors. Private and multi-family houses grew rapidly on vacant plots, even where there was no normal infrastructure for them. Such development has become a mass phenomenon: in 2024, 1,515 illegally constructed structures were entered into the unified register of illegal construction of the republic, including 833 multi-family houses.

The city developed faster than the services modernized sewage systems and municipal networks. Gradually, floods after heavy rains became a common occurrence.

“The earth could not absorb more”

The water, flowing towards the sea, began to regularly flood the lower part of the city because it did not have time to flow into the sewage system.

First, it flooded the streets – it was impossible to walk on them. Then it began to flood underground parking lots and basements, as well as rooms on the ground floors of buildings. For example, my friend's yard is constantly flooded. Sometimes you can only enter in high shoes. A friend of mine is constantly clearing silt from his yard. Gradually, people got used to it – and they prepare as best they can: they drive away in expensive cars to higher districts, they take equipment out of basement warehouses. Some people buy pumps and pump out the water.

On April 5, there were no heavy rains in the city itself – they passed somewhere in the highlands, outside the city. Therefore, no one expected a new flood and did not imagine that it could be so extensive.

But the water started going down. They overflowed rivers, which are natural arteries for rainwater. The ground was already so saturated with moisture from the snowy winter and heavy rainfall in spring that it could not absorb any more.

Such a strong flood – during which water flowed through houses and destroyed them – had never happened in Makhachkala before.

Water element

Rivers are inconspicuous. Under normal circumstances, you don't even pay attention to them. However, it is thanks to them that excess water that accumulates during heavy rains flows from the mountains and the city to the sea. It seems to me that before this flood, people living on the river banks did not understand their role and They didn't think they could become so powerful.

After the flood on April 5, I thought it would be interesting to walk along the banks of these rivers and see how people live. Due to the chaotic development, a lot of residential houses had grown in their valleys – I began to wander among them.

Sometimes rivers disappear from view altogether because they have been buried or hidden in pipes underground. For example, in one section the river goes below the football pitch and resurfaces some distance away – I found it while heading destruction and water gushing from under the ground. Sometimes the river flows directly under the apartment building.

In normal times, some stretches of the river are likely to have an idyllic rural feel: streams of water, greenery, trees, people tending chickens and gardens. In other sections, there are multi-story buildings built on the banks.

Because these natural waterways have been completely built up, on April 5 many obstacles appeared in the path of the water. It began to break through them, sweeping away embankments and fences, destroying houses and spreading throughout the area. Like people who are usually calm but have been pushed to the point where they explode and lose their temper.

Desperate residents

One of the residents told me:

“My sister's house had water flowing straight through the house – it washed everything away. I came to help her. Her son's wedding was supposed to be on April 12. They had been building this house for a long time, and now this.

Currently, with every text message about rain, we prepare for a flood. The water rose before our eyes and then flowed in waves against the current because it could not flow any further.

My plot is on the river, the whole street gets flooded when the river floods. I want to put up a fence, but they won't let me because it will be in a water protection zone and that's illegal.”

Cleaning is underway on the banks. Unfortunately, in many homes almost everything turned into garbage. Residents and volunteers take out the remains of furniture and household appliances and try to organize everything they can. The situation is made worse by the fact that due to development, municipal equipment cannot drive up to clean the riverbed (which, by the way, must be done regularly). It's good if there's a shed in the way of the machines that can be demolished, but if it's a two- or three-story residential building where people live…

Another resident tells me:

“I wouldn't wish it even on my enemy! It was a nightmare how long it took me to wash everything here. My husband covered the gate with bags. I'm fed up with this, it happens again every time there is a downpour.

Everything was gone except the money, because with the last money my son bought bricks. I left with my passport in my bag, I didn't have time to take anything else. The neighbors gave the rest.

Yes, this is my house. But it won't dry out for another half a year.”

Currently, municipal workers are cleaning storm drains, and riverside residents are trying to build fortifications – bags of earth and sand appear along the rivers. People want to prepare for future rainfall, but these measures will not be enough to avoid another severe flood. At least the riverbeds need to be cleared of debris and mindless development.