Odesa authorities explain why they failed to overcome the consequences of the storm that claimed lives

The aftermath of bad weather in Odesa on 30 September 2025. Photo: SES

The Odesa City Hall said that over 220% of the monthly rainfall rate fell in the city over the past day. This volume of water significantly exceeded the capacity of the stormwater network.

According to Leonid Hrebeniuk, Director of the Department of Municipal Economy, 94 mm of precipitation fell, while the monthly norm for September is 42 mm.

He assures that the city services worked continuously. They cleaned storm drains, pumped out water, and all drainage pumping stations operated normally with backup power from generators. In particular, at Gazovy lane, the station automatically switched to a generator after a power outage.

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«The experience of flooding in different countries during heavy rains and natural disasters shows that the stormwater infrastructure of any city is not able to cope with the simultaneous inflow of such a large amount of water»," the city authorities explain.

On 30 September, Odesa received one and a half months of rainfall. Civil defence volunteers and rescuers from the State Emergency Service worked alongside the utility companies.

On Wednesday, 1 October, it became known that nine people, including one child, died in the city as a result of the natural disaster.

Following this, Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba to conduct a full investigation into the actions of the local authorities and all the circumstances. The report is expected this Friday.

On Thursday, 2 October, Odesa region declared a day of mourning in connection with the deaths of nine people due to the natural disaster.