The risk of a recurrence of the devastating flood, which in the summer of 2013 caused a lot of trouble in the Far East, is not excluded. The level of Cupid today is slightly higher than normal. Much depends on summer rains. EMERCOM of Russia employees are doing everything necessary so that the disaster does not recur.
Game of nature
Cupid in translation from the local Tungus-Manchu languages means "river of the black dragon." The legend says that there lived a certain black serpent in it, which was the personification of good. He defeated the white dragon (evil). He turned the boats of the fishermen, did not give a good catch. Whatever it was, but, apparently, this villain from time to time makes itself felt today, in his own way "stirs up the water."
The level of Cupid in Khabarovsk is generally unstable. Fluctuations are from 10-15 meters at the beginning and middle of the river, at the mouth - up to 6-8 m.
Water, water around
As you know, without water there is no life. But when there is a lot of it, it poses a threat to humanity.
August 2013 year. Heavy rains, which went continuously, led to an unprecedented flood of a mighty river. In the Jewish and Amur regions, as well as in the Khabarovsk Territory , 185 cities and villages stood in the water. More than 9 thousand houses, as well as 13 thousand household lands and 4 thousand summer cottages. Plus 374 social buildings.
611 km of roads and 600 thousand hectares of fields with eared crops were hidden under water. The navigation of passengers on the river was discontinued.
The level of Amur at Khabarovsk was such that it was impossible to move through the streets, neither on foot nor on transport. The same situation was in Blagoveshchensk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur and other cities.
Left-bank islands also covered themselves with water. Livestock and livestock were affected. And wild animals even swam across the river. Otherwise, there was no escape.
This has not been 120 years
If the level of Amur at Khabarovsk, for example, on August 18, 2013 was 642 cm higher than the absolute maximum of 1913, then in a week it already became 736 cm.
Rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations together with volunteers erected dams and other protective structures. Do you really hold back a powerful stream! Moreover, the water arrived just swiftly. September 4, 2013 rose to 808 cm. The city steadily went under water. Such a flood has not happened here for 120 years! Only on September 5, the elements began to recede.
How about a water level of 912 cm? This was September 12, 2013 near Komsomolsk. And this despite the fact that 600 cm is considered an unfavorable indicator, and 650 cm is considered a dangerous indicator. It is clear why people were in a panic. Over 820 houses with 10 thousand inhabitants were already in the flood zone.
September 13, the water fell a little, but not for long. The stubborn Cupid continued to act up. His waters seemed to freeze for several days at around 908 cm. And then the curve of indicators again crawled up. People began to be evacuated, because in the flooded territories food and drinking water quickly ran out.
So the village of Svechino in the Khabarovsk Territory became an island. The roads are blurry, movement is possible only by boat. And if in the Komsomolsk-on-Amur region, for example, about 3 thousand people went to temporary residence centers (in sanatoriums, military towns or dormitories), then many refused this. In almost every household - pigs, chickens, cows. You won’t take them with you and you won’t leave them for death.
Those whose houses were completely destroyed had no choice. In the Amur region, for example, such people counted 6 thousand.
And the forecasts of meteorologists continued to be disappointing. They also expected a storm. And then even strong defenses can collapse.
Rescuers from Moscow, Chita, Novosibirsk, Kamchatka, Primorye, Magadan arrived to help local EMERCOM specialists and builders.
The level is growing faster than last year.
Residents of the Far East and especially Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur are still troubled. They are anxiously listening to operational information from hydrologists about the water level in the Amur today. After all, it can grow at a speed of 5, 7 and even 10 cm per day, as it was a year ago.
So, on June 23, 2015, Komsomolsk on Amur aroused fears. The water level was 200-250 cm. And what will happen next? For comparison, the level of Amur in Khabarovsk now arrives two times faster than in 2013. Although experts are reassuring. Like, the former large-scale disaster will not happen again.
According to hydrologists, the current level of the Amur at Khabarovsk today will still rise until the end of July. It is expected that by that time it will reach the level of 280-300 cm - and this is close to normal.
Maybe it will cost?
But man, as they say, assumes, but God disposes. If it also rains without stopping, cyclones give in to the heat, then just wait for trouble.
We must not forget that from November 2014 to March 2015, as many as 9 cyclones walked around the Khabarovsk Territory. And last winter was, by the way, according to meteorologists, the snowiest - since 1953. In some areas (for example, Sovetsko-Gavansky, Nikolaev) snow piled 200-300% of the annual norm!
But experts say that the level of Amur in Khabarovsk is not dangerous today. Indeed, in reservoirs there are discharges of accumulated. And the rise of water in the Amur will not grow to critical levels.