Residents of the Kazygurt district in the Turkistan Region have been left without shelter and livestock after a mudflow swept through several settlements. Raging torrents tore through multiple villages, flooding homes and yards and leaving behind destroyed barns, dead livestock and a trail of problems, the website infohub.kz reports.
According to the KTK television channel, hail fell in the district in the afternoon, followed by heavy rain, and then streams of muddy water poured down from the mountains. Residents of several villages describe the scale of the disaster.
"The barn was swept away, the hay was swept away, the straw is gone. This mudflow is just a disaster. This is what's happening. We're left like we're on an island," local residents say.
According to eyewitnesses, the raging torrents washed away cars, destroyed barns with livestock inside and undermined the foundations of houses. But the residents of Kosagash suffered the most. There, the water rose to almost one and a half meters, leaving entire families without homes.
"This house is completely ruined, the livestock died, the barn is destroyed. In short, there's not even anywhere to sit. Six of us live in the house, my daughter-in-law is pregnant. Who are we going to go live with now? They'll put us up for three days at most, and then what?" said resident Temir Kudakeldyuly.
The flood reached what is virtually the only bakery in the area, which produced at least a thousand loaves every day. The water ruined the equipment.
"I supplied bread to 25–30 stores, I bake a thousand loaves a day. I feed people, after all. Out of 40 sacks, only six survived intact. Here's the dough, we'd just set it yesterday. But the water came, and now everything is ruined. My barn is destroyed too. The livestock were swept away as well, two head," says a local entrepreneur.
People say they haven't seen rain like this in at least 30 years. That's because there used to be aryks around the village, but now, they say, houses have been built there and the diversion channels have disappeared. Those affected are demanding that everything be restored as it was before.
"There used to be an aryk above us, a big aryk. The water flowed away along it. Now that aryk has been completely filled in: people built bridges, put up barns, planted trees. So where is all this water coming from the gully supposed to go now? I'm simply demanding that a canal be dug higher up, so that all the water flows away to the very foot of the village," said Liza Zharkynbekova.
Dozens of rescuers helped residents of three villages deal with the aftermath of the flood. They pumped out water and cleared mud for more than a day. Officials are now tallying the damage and determining the number of those affected.
"Restoration work is now under way. We are going around all the houses, I personally inspect every house. Going forward, we will bring in additional manpower. We have already mobilized all the rural districts," commented Nursultan Medeuov, deputy akim of the Kazygurt district.
He also promised that those affected would receive the necessary assistance. The akimat will also consider restoring the diversion channels.
Earlier we reported that several villages in the Kazygurt district of the Turkistan Region were flooded due to heavy rains. The situation was commented on by the district akimat.