Transcarpathian region ravaged by floodwaters (11/22/98)

Transcarpathian region ravaged by floodwaters

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Torrential rains and heavy flooding have ravaged the Mukachiv region of Transcarpathia near the Hungarian-Ukrainian border in the last two weeks, leaving a trail of death and homelessness.

Fourteen people are dead, many more are missing and 24,000 have been left homeless after two days of heavy rains on November 4-5 caused major flooding. Highways and railroads have been under water for two weeks, and with 20 bridges and thousands of telephone lines down from the onslaught of water, the area has had limited access to the outside world.

A woman from the area appearing on Ukrainian Television on November 18 explained between sobs the human toll the flood has extracted. "Look at my house. Where am I going to live this winter?" she asked before a heap of wood that once was her home. "My children, my son and his wife, and their two kids - they are still buried beneath the house."

The towns of Mukachiv, Khust, and Tiachiv and 118 surrounding villages were nearly submerged by water after flood dams broke on the rivers Tysa, Latorytsi and Borzhavy, causing them to overflow their banks. In Tiachiv county the Tysa reached a high mark of more than 18 feet above flood level.

In the town of Mukachiv alone nearly 130 private buildings were destroyed, along with 5,500 homes.

Although Ukraine's National Guard and Border Guard units with helicopters, along with more than 8,000 aid workers including volunteers of the International Red Cross, have been in the area since the initial flooding, additional rains and a shortage of rescue equipment and emergency housing has left the region's population in a precarious situation.

Nearly 1,000 people have been hospitalized as a result of the disaster, according to the newspaper Den, and the major concern now is providing shelter and food as winter weather arrives. Another worry is the threat of an epidemic of viral hepatitis from unsafe drinking water. Doctors in the area have identified three possible cases in local domestic animals, which have not yet been confirmed.

Experts from Ukraine's Ministry of Emergency Situations said on November 17 that with more rain and the first snows in the area, in recent days the flood waters are receding more slowly and have even stopped in some places. The ministry said that threats of mud slides in the hilly region have grown to dangerous levels.

On November 9, two days after President Leonid Kuchma visited the area and called for international relief aid, the Ukrainian government earmarked 10 million hrv ($2.9 million U.S.) for immediate disaster relief. The same day Minister of Foreign Affairs Borys Tarasyuk sent a personal letter to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan asking for U.N. help to overcome what could turn into a major disaster if winter arrives early.

Thus far, international aid has come from Hungary, Russia, Slovakia, Italy, France and Greece in the form of food, drinking water, medicines, clothing and blankets.

Hungary, in particular, was quick to act. Even before the flooding had reached its peak, the Hungarian government decided to send 100 million forints (about $2.17 million U.S.) in aid. Hungary shares a border with Ukraine in the Mukachiv region, and many residents of the area are of Hungarian extraction.

The devastated area has received aid also from many oblasts of Ukraine. Chernihiv has sent 2.5 tons of processed flour, sugar, cooking oil, butter and cheese. The Ternopil Oblast administration delivered a 40-truck caravan of food and clothing. The Kyiv city administration ordered aid totaling 300,000 hrv for the Transcarpathia region, and 100,000 hrv specifically for the Mukachiv region.

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