Critical Action After Kakhovka Dam Destruction Saves Lives in Ukraine
Four ways that trusted local partnerships enabled immediate disaster response
On June 6, the world watched as Ukraine’s Kakhovka Dam was destroyed, immediately flooding areas of Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts and endangering lives. The devastating floods and destruction seriously impacted the lives and livelihoods of tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians, with profound consequences on safe water access, agricultural production, and landmine movements.
Within hours of the destruction of the dam, USAID mobilized to deliver life-saving assistance to those impacted, in coordination with the Government of Ukraine.
Read on to learn about four ways USAID, through the Office of Transition Initiatives Ukraine Confidence Building Initiative, responded in the aftermath of the dam’s collapse to address the immediate humanitarian, environmental, and economic impacts of the disaster.
1. Delivering Critical Supplies and Services
Since 2014, the U.S. Government, through USAID’s partnerships with government and civil society actors in Ukraine, has built a strong network of trusted relationships. After the destruction of the dam, USAID coordinated closely with regional government bodies and first responders to determine the supplies and equipment needed to respond in the most affected communities. USAID also worked hand in hand with civil society and volunteer organizations to supplement the regional government’s response.
In rapidly flooding Kherson, USAID supplied fuel to local authorities racing against time to transport supplies and conduct water evacuations.
In Kherson city, USAID provided 7,455 gallons worth of fuel to authorities, surrounding communities, and local NGOs, often fulfilling requests in a matter of hours. This included deliveries as small as 200 liters (about 50 gallons) to organizations like Save Peace in Ukraine, that used the fuel to power boats for water evacuations, distribute clean drinking water, and deliver 3,850 food kits within the first two days of the disaster. Larger deliveries of fuel, including one of 6,400 liters (almost 1,700 gallons) to the Kherson City Administration, supported evacuations, essential aid deliveries, and the cleanup of flooded infrastructure.
Additional support provided through USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance also allowed for the quick mobilization of pre-positioned supplies to evacuation points, including food cash, hygiene kits, and safe drinking water. Three local civil society organizations provided essential relief items — including blankets, clothing, pillows, and towels — to flood-affected communities in southern Ukraine. And in July, one partner provided psychosocial support services to nearly 160 individuals in Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts and legal services to more than 50 people affected by flooding.
2. Aiding Water Evacuations
As the unfolding chaos in severely flooded areas strained authorities’ ability to respond, USAID partnered with local NGOs to reinforce evacuation efforts. USAID worked with one such organization, Helping to Leave, to staff and equip a call center to rapidly coordinate water evacuations, and share information across responding organizations.
Over the course of one month, Helping to Leave evacuated 1,322 residents, including 80 people with disabilities, and helped other organizations assist many more.
“Everyone is tired and exhausted,” said Helping to Leave volunteer Ihor Chornyi, “but when we receive a message that a person or animal is left somewhere, we return to get them no matter what.”
USAID also supplied equipment — including two inflatable, motorized boats — that expanded the State Emergency Services of Ukraine’s (SESU) already ongoing evacuation operations that evacuated 2,782 people.
3. Addressing Clean Water Scarcity
The dam’s destruction also disrupted access to clean drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people in the area.
In response, USAID partnered with Ukrainian NGO Union and the Ukrainian company Ecosoft, which specializes in innovative water solutions, to deliver a mobile water treatment unit to Kherson city capable of serving 25,000 people per day, and 20 smaller Ecosoft mobile water treatment units, each with the ability to serve 1,000 people per day. These smaller mobile water treatment units were delivered to rural communities that previously relied on a reservoir for water along with 100 water tanks to help store this water.
USAID also supplied Ukrainian Railways with equipment to help restore its water treatment facilities vital to railway operations, and to provide drinking water to approximately 900 residents in the surrounding Kherson neighborhood.
“Beryslav city expresses its gratitude and appreciation to USAID for helping to find a solution to the problem of delivering drinking water to the people of Zmiiv Starostat [village],” says Oleksandr Shapovalov, the mayor of the Beryslav community in Kherson.
“With your support,” he added, “we will be able to serve more than 300 households in the coastline settlement — which is constantly being shelled by Russian troops and has water supply issues as a result of the Kakhovka [Hydroelectric Power Plant] explosion — with high-quality drinking water.”
4. Sustaining the Next Phase of Recovery
As first responders addressed the most immediate needs of the crisis, USAID began planning for the next phase of recovery. As part of those efforts, USAID partnered with the Center for Living History Oleshye to equip two flood recovery mobile response units. Staffed by volunteers, the units provided free assistance to residents of Kherson by pumping water out of flooded buildings, drying and disinfecting the areas, and removing debris. In their first six weeks of operation, they cleaned 433 homes.
USAID also provided 29 pumps to SESU to augment their efforts to pump water out of flooded homes and buildings. In the six weeks following the crisis, SESU pumped water out of over 1,100 structures. While the road to a full recovery is a long one, it remains a critical priority to mitigate the long-term infrastructural damage and health risks associated with major flooding as soon as possible.
The Bigger Picture
Since the disaster, U.S. Government-supported humanitarian and emergency response teams — including the USAID teams that were among the first to respond — have worked in close coordination with Kherson regional and municipal administrations, the Ministry for Restoration of Ukraine, other government bodies, and other international donors to provide critical assistance to people impacted by the destruction of Kakhovka Dam.
Approximately $1.2 billion of the United States’ $20.5 billion budget support to the Government of Ukraine has been used for salaries of SESU first responders, including many of those who were first on the scene after the destruction of the dam.
USAID continues to strengthen reconstruction in affected areas, from restoring clean water supplies to the restoration of local government services, laying a strong foundation for the region’s long term recovery.
About the Author
Connor McHale is the Reporting Communications Manager for USAID’s Ukraine Confidence Building Initiative 4, a program managed by the USAID Office of Transition Initiatives.
