Following the May downpour, the sewer near «Dormashyna» in Mykolaiv is being inspected again

Vitalii Shevchenko explained the causes of the flooding in the district, which occurred following the heavy downpour on 21 May. According to him, 29 millimetres of rainfall fell in Mykolaiv in 1 hour and 17 minutes, which is effectively the monthly or even one-and-a-half-monthly average for May.

«The storm drain in Dormashyna cannot cope with such a volume of water. It filled up, the water level rose, but after the rain stopped, the water drained completely from the carriageway in about 23–25 minutes. This suggests that the storm drain system itself is working; it is clear and not blocked. It simply cannot cope with the volume of water that fell in such a short time,» said Vitalii Shevchenko.

After the downpour, the company’s staff reopened the sewer and inspected it. According to the company director, around 30 centimetres of silt was found in the first 300 metres of the collector from the area near the ATB supermarket. However, he assured that this was not a critical blockage.

Vitalii Shevchenko explained that the sewer gradually widens from the avenue to the point where it joins the main drain. However, even its dimensions are insufficient to drain the water during extremely heavy rainfall.

«This rain has shown us that the total capacity of the channel cannot cope with the volume of water falling at any one time,» he noted.

Because of this, the municipal services plan to close the problematic section of the avenue in advance during heavy downpours to avoid emergencies.

The company director also urged drivers not to ignore the road closures and not to leave their carsi n low-lying areas near «Dormashyna».

«Don’t drive into a puddle. This time we saw a driver push aside the barrier, despite warnings from staff, drive into the water and stall. The man then had to push the car out himself,» he said.

The storm drain at «Dormashyna»

In the summer of 2021, the Department of Housing and Communal Services of the Mykolaiv City Council commissioned a project to construct storm drains on Central Avenue. At the time, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych suggested that City Council deputy Vladyslav Chaika take responsibility and oversee the project from start to finish.

In 2023, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych told NikVesti that the stormwater collector at «Dormashyna» in Mykolaiv had been reconstructed. According to him, it should no longer flood after that.

However, in June 2024, following heavy rainfall, «Dormashyna» was flooded, as has become customary.

Earlier, the head of the Central District Administration, Oleksandr Bereza, stated that the district is constantly flooded during rain because an ancient river once flowed through this area.

In July 2024, Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych personally descended into the storm drain to inspect its condition.

Last year, municipal workers cleared around 108 tonnes of rubbish from the storm drain on Central Avenue in the Dormashyna area. This spot remains one of the most problematic in the city — the drain gets blocked more often than any other.