Mayor Urges Bodaybo Residents to Relocate Amid Heating Crisis

Mayor of Bodaybo and the Bodaybinsky District, Yevgeny Yumashev, has asked residents whose homes are without centralized heating to move in with relatives or to temporary accommodation points. Because cold housing is being heated with electric heaters, emergency power outages could begin in the city. Yumashev«s video address was published on the official Telegram channel of the local administration.

“If you have the opportunity to move to apartments, residential buildings, to relatives, friends, colleagues, where centralized heat supply is provided, I ask you to do so. This is due to the fact that we are now seeing an increase in power supply capacities. From this arise the following risks: possible emergency shutdown of these areas, which will worsen the situation,” said Yevgeny Yumashev.

In addition, fires could start due to faulty electrical equipment. Authorities also fear that the sewage system may fail.

“Since basements are not heated, everything is frozen, over time, and this time is short, sewage systems will fail, and you will not be able to use, unfortunately, your toilets. If you have such an opportunity, please move to houses where heat is supplied. If such an opportunity is not available, of course, try to use the sewage system by using more or less hot or at least warm water to prevent the water from freezing instantly,” added Yumashev.

City residents who cannot temporarily move in with relatives or friends can turn to temporary accommodation points. In Bodaybo, they are deployed on the basis of kindergartens No. 1, «Raduga» and «Skazka».

In a conversation with a journalist from «IrCity», Yevgeny Yumashev said that by the evening of January 31, the situation in the city had not fundamentally changed. However, preparatory work is now underway for laying a new temporary water pipeline.

“Tomorrow morning we will start laying it,” said the mayor of Bodaybo.

In the mutual aid chat for Bodaybo residents “Help and Support for People in Difficult Situations”, it is reported that a collection and distribution point for all necessary items for residents of homes without heating has been set up at the local administration. It is located at Uritskogo Street, 33.

“There you can take water, items, heaters and deliver them to people at their addresses,” the message says.

Also, a reminder has been published in the chat about where Bodaybo residents in need of assistance can turn.

“Dear residents in the emergency zone! Information about the need for water, heating appliances, warm clothing, hot meals, etc. can be submitted by phone: 112 — the ARM system; 52700 — the EDDS; 8 914 946-27-91, 8 950 091-25-13 — administration specialists. For energy supply issues — 8 800 301-33-53, this is the hotline of ‘Vitimenergo’,” the message said.

Recall that in Bodaybo, problems with heating and hot water have been observed for the third day. The central water pipeline has frozen, leaving more than 1.3 thousand people without heat. Governor Igor Kobzev called the situation in the city “critical”, sent his first deputy Roman Kolesov and Minister of Housing Policy and Energy Anatoly Nikitin there. In the city a state of emergency has been introduced since January 31.

Bodaybo residents told how they survive in their homes without heating in 40-degree below zero frosts (-40°F). In addition, city residents united and created a mutual aid chat: they deliver food, water, and heaters to each other. On the afternoon of January 31, in Bodaybo the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Vyacheslav Fedoseenko, flew to personally monitor the situation.