Village remaining under water for 2 weeks in Akmola region
On April 14, a dam failure led to flooding of Nura village in Akmola region, where the floodwater level reaching three meters. Full evacuation took place ahead of the accident on April 12.
I was born in Nura village and has been living in this house since 1974. I carried out home repairs. Initially, it was a small house. Later, I completed building it and connected to gas supply. After the flooding, I once visited it. The level of water was waist-deep. Now, it’s even higher. Everything was left in the house. Since March 24, the preparation began; dams were erected. On April 14, floodwaters came. An alarm signal went off at the school as dams collapsed on both sides, said resident of the village Bokenbai Karin.
Construction of dams with laying thousands of sandbags reaching up to three meters in some places began on March 24 in the village of Nura, 90km from the administrative center of Irgizskiy district, Akmola region.
On April 7, Ankar Omarov was elected as the akim (head) of the village as there had been no akim in the settlement for nearly a year. Later, Nura, Mamyr and Belsher villages of the Nurinskiy rural district were fully evacuated.
The village of Nura is divided in two parts Tubek and Shtab by salt marsh. All houses were destroyed by floods in Tubek part of the village, with some houses remaining fully under water.
Bakytkali Akhmetov, neighbor of Bokenbai Karin, could not enter the village 15 days ago. Bakytkali was searching for his dog Aktaban, who he adopted as a puppy, on a motor boat. The two finally met after the dog swam up to his owner recognizing Bakytkali’s voice.
All social facilities of Nura village are under water now, including the two-story school, which underwent repairs last year, the mosque, as well as the building of the administration office, which was built last year for 115 million tenge.
Out of the total 112 houses, 103 were flooded in the village of Nura. 22 houses were damaged in Mamyr village and four houses in Belsher village.
According to head of Irgizskiy district Nurlan Kyzbergenov, the decision was made to fully move Nura village.
The level of water in the Turgai River has reduced. This water comes to our villages Nura and Mamyr, where the water level is not decreasing, said Kyzbergenov.
This year, the water coming from the Irgiz and Turgai rivers caused large-scale floods in Nura village.
