Flooding in Dagestan and Chechnya

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At the end of March 2026, the North Caucasus experienced one of the most devastating floods in recent memory. Dagestan and Chechnya were hardest hit.

Flood Prerequisites

According to Roshydromet, "the total amount of precipitation over three days exceeded the monthly norm, which led to a sharp rise in the level of mountain rivers." ¹ The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations noted that the terrain features – short and steep mountain riverbeds – contributed to the formation of "fast-flowing floodwaters." ². Mudflows were recorded in some areas, washing away bridge supports and destroying road surfaces. ³.

Infrastructural factors exacerbated the effects of the disaster. In Dagestan, authorities acknowledged that some residential buildings ended up in river floodplains and lowlands, which increased the scale of the damage. ⁴. Makhachkala's public utilities reported that the city's storm drain system "wasn't designed to handle such a volume of rainfall," leading to widespread flooding. Dagestan's head, Sergei Melikov, called the flood "unprecedented in its severity" and emphasized that it exposed weaknesses in the city's flood protection system. In Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov announced the need to revise urban development policy, noting that houses will no longer be built in places where "any large flood turns into a disaster." ⁶.

Dagestan: Flooded Streets and Houses

The first serious consequences of the March 28 downpours appeared in Makhachkala, where more than twenty private houses were flooded, and 103 people were evacuated. The Ministry of Emergency Situations indicated that the rise in the water level on one of the streets was due to a clogged gutter, despite the authorities’ reports that the storm drains had been cleared in advance. The officials’ statements contradicted the assessments of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, which directly indicated that the rise in the water level was due to a clogged gutter. Despite official reports on the situation, residents reported long-standing storm drain problems, flooded cars, and the inability to reach emergency services.

By March 28, when a state of emergency was declared in the city, ⁷, Makhachkala experienced power and water outages, as well as transportation difficulties. Local residents complained that it was virtually impossible to reach emergency services.

In the Khasavyurt district, in the village of Adilyotar, 468 homes were flooded, and 43 patients were evacuated from the hospital in Batayurt.

A state of emergency was declared in Buynaksk, Dagestanskiye Ogni, Kaspiysk, Khasavyurt, as well as the Khasavyurt, Karabudakhkent, and Derbent districts. By the evening of March 30, the water had receded from 544 homes and nearly 700 garden plots, but 235 homes and 550 plots remained flooded.

On March 29, rain and strong winds caused power outages, leaving more than 327,000 residents in 283 communities without power. The next day, the Nadezhda charity foundation began collecting funds for the victims, and by the evening of March 30, authorities reported that 50 million rubles had been collected.

On March 30, six streets in Makhachkala remained flooded. On March 31, residents of the Reduktorny settlement and the Palmira microdistrict reported that their homes had been without electricity and water for for four days. That evening, Makhachkala Mayor Dzhambulat Salavov announced on his Telegram channel that restoration work at the Primorskaya substation had been completed, but residents wrote in the comments that this was not true.

On March 31, the republic's authorities announced that financial assistance of 15,600 rubles was provided for each person affected by the flood in Dagestan. Compensation has also been announced for those who have lost property, health, or loved ones.

Chechnya: Mass Evacuation

In Chechnya, the peak of the flood occurred on March 28-30. On March 29, 61 mm of precipitation fell in Gudermes in 12 hours, and a record 91 mm in Nozhai-Yurt, which qualifies as a dangerous phenomenon. At the Gudermes hydrographic post, the Belka River reached a critical level of 750 cm, which is a dangerous phenomenon,” said Luiza Bekmurzaeva, a leading meteorologist at the Chechen Center for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, to the editorial board of the Chechnya Today news agency. ⁸.

In the Gudermes district, the water destroyed two bridges, flooded more than 700 houses, and the water level in the Sunzha River began to decrease only by the evening of March 29. Rescuers evacuated more than 600 residents of the village of Braguny, more than 50 people from Gudermes and the village of Dzhalka. Kadyrov's Telegram channel published a story with footage of the evacuation, which shows that the evacuation took place in trucks, but did not use special equipment from the Ministry of Emergency Situations ⁹. In total, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the number of evacuees in the republic exceeded 1,100 people.

On March 29, a state of emergency was declared in Chechnya due to adverse weather conditions: heavy rains, downpours in the mountains, precipitation in the form of rain and sleet. ¹⁰.

As a result of the rising water level in the Gums River, the settlement of Kundukhovo was flooded, where more than 500 residents were evacuated in advance ¹¹. Many were placed with relatives, abandoning temporary accommodation centers. In Argun and Gudermes, the flood destroyed bridges, restricting traffic. A video published by the Grozny State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company showed military vehicles driving along a road with water almost reaching the bumpers.

As of March 30, 1,260 homes and courtyards remained flooded in Chechnya, while another 557 homes had been cleared of water. In total, the Ministry of Emergency Situations counted 1,817 flooded homes and courtyards. A state of emergency was declared in the Shali, Kurchaloy, Sharoi, Shatoi, and Nozhai-Yurt districts. In the Shali district, bridge supports over the Khulkhulau and Bass rivers were destroyed, as well as a 40-meter gas pipeline. In the Kurchaloevsky district, a partial dam breach occurred near the village of Tsotsi-Yurt, and in Nozhay-Yurtovsky, 69 houses were damaged. ¹².

On March 31, authorities announced the transfer of schoolchildren and kindergarten students from the village of Gurzhi-Mokhk to another institution due to damage to the buildings. In the Shatoi district, two villages were cut off from transport links.

Amid the destruction, Ramzan Kadyrov announced on March 31 the construction of 100 individual houses in Kerla-Benoy and 100 houses in the Gudermes district for the most affected families, emphasizing that the new settlements are located in areas where "similar natural disasters are not predicted." ¹³ He also announced that the Kadyrov Foundation had sent humanitarian aid to the Khasavyurt district of Dagestan. "The aid included generators, pumps, motor pumps, fire hoses, protective suits, and other necessary goods," Kadyrov wrote. ¹⁴.

This isn't the first flooding in the North Caucasus republics. In September 2025, heavy rains led to substation flooding and power outages in Makhachkala. Food spoiled in de-energized refrigerators, and cooking became difficult in apartments with electric stoves. Makhachkala residents have the right to demand compensation for damage caused by street flooding and extended power outages, lawyers said.

Dagestan authorities promised financial assistance to Makhachkala residents whose property was damaged by flooding, but did not disclose the amount of assistance. Makhachkala residents paid 28,000-30,000 rubles for the towing and repair of flooded cars, while authorities paid only 10,000 rubles for property damage. Lawyers noted that car owners have the right to go to court to demand compensation from the mayor's office, which failed to ensure safe traffic on the roads.

Notes

1. https://www.meteorf.gov.ru/press/polovod2026/43179/
2. https://vk.com/away.php?to=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.meteorf.gov.ru%2Fpress%2Fpolovod2026%2Fforecast.php&utf=1
3. https://07.mchs.gov.ru/deyatelnost/press-centr/novosti/5693894.
4. https://t.me/agiprd/33109
5. https://t.me/melikov05/5243
6. https://t.me/RKadyrov_95/6458
7. https://t.me/YourNewsTalk/55127
8. Dangerous phenomenon: Hydrometeorological Center representatives on the situation on water bodies in Chechnya // Chechnya Today, March 29, 2026.
9. https://t.me/RKadyrov_95/6455.
10. A state of emergency has been declared in Chechnya // Grozny-Inform, March 29, 2026.
11. More than 500 people were evacuated from the flooded village of Kundukhovo in Chechnya // TASS, March 29, 2026.
12. Over 1,800 houses were flooded in Chechnya due to bad weather // Chechnya Today, March 29, 2026.
13. https://t.me/RKadyrov_95/6458
14. https://t.me/RKadyrov_95/6462.