Mahachkala is facing severe consequences after torrential downpours: the city is submerged, a major power substation has been disconnected, and emergency services are actively clearing storm drains. The heavy rain has now ceased.
The powerful rainstorms have left a significant portion of Mahachkala`s population without electricity. Sergey Melikov, the head of Dagestan, described the situation as challenging but under control.
Despite the difficulties, a state of emergency has not been declared in the region. Due to the risk of contamination to the city`s water supply system, residents are advised to use only boiled or bottled water for drinking and household needs. The «Primorskaya» substation is temporarily de-energized. Jambulat Salavov, acting head of Mahachkala, reported that all city services have been shifted to a round-the-clock operational mode. The rain has stopped for now.
Timur Aliev, a correspondent in Dagestan, shared insights into the current situation:
«One of the largest substations in Mahachkala, which supplies power to the city of Kaspiysk and parts of Mahachkala, has been shut down. It`s unclear when power will be restored; residents of Kaspiysk are complaining about outages. However, the rain has more or less stopped, there isn`t such heavy precipitation now, and the streets are in a relatively normal state.»
«City authorities have urged residents to boil tap water or use bottled water due to the potential contamination of the water supply by rainwater. Many citizens responded to calls for assistance, offering rides to women with children, especially those stranded at bus stops. There were numerous such cases, and even volunteers on quad bikes helped extract stuck cars from flooded areas, bringing them to drier ground. Citizens themselves, unlike officials, I must say, were very responsive and helped each other.»
«Today, there was an instance where a street was flooded, and people couldn`t cross. A driver stopped, took them into his car, and simply drove them across the road. The rains have ceased, but efforts to clear storm drains continue. The most challenging location is Peter I Avenue, but generally, cars are moving and public transport is running throughout the city; it seems to be normalizing for now.»
When asked about future rain prospects, Aliev added: «According to forecasts, no more such heavy rains are expected. Today, there were downpours until 6 PM, and there was even information that a football match might be canceled. It`s supposed to be the Russian championship, `Dynamo` (Mahachkala) vs. Moscow `Lokomotiv`. The football club announced on its Telegram channel that everything seems to be fine for now. But how fans will get there is unclear because their path lies precisely through Peter I Avenue, where the road is blocked and where the main flooding occurred. We don`t know yet, but the match has not been canceled.»
In the Kaitagsky district of Dagestan, heavy rains caused the destruction of a bridge over the Ulluchay River, isolating 18 settlements from the district center, Majalis village, as reported by district head Zapir Gasanov.
In total, emergency power outages affected 73 settlements across Dagestan.
