Flash floods kill nine in Odesa after heavy rain in southern Ukraine

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(Reuters) -Flash floods in Ukraine’s Odesa killed nine people including a family of five trapped in their home as it was engulfed by water, emergency services said on Wednesday, as torrential rain left hundreds in need of rescue and thousands without power.

Teams worked through the night to rescue some 362 people and pump water from buildings, the service said on the Telegram messaging app, and it posted pictures of passengers being lifted from a flooded bus and cars pulled from the water.

“A horrific situation in Odesa these days – 9 people have died as a result of the natural disaster, including a child,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on X platform.

He added that the whereabouts of one more person were still being verified.

A family of five who lived in lower ground floor flat of a building was unable to escape the wave of water, the emergency service’s spokesperson for the Odesa region Maryna Averina told Ukrainian television.

Another three women died as they were walking along a road and were swept away, Averina added.

“In just seven hours, almost two months’ worth of rain fell in Odesa,” Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov said on Telegram earlier. “No stormwater drainage system can withstand such a load.” 

Governor Oleh Kiper said the region was now suffering from torrential rainfall for a second day, which had flooded roads, caused power outages, damaged property and brought down trees.

Over 500 workers were involved in the rescue effort, he said. He added 42,000 customers in 32 villages and towns in the region were still temporarily without power.

Zelenskiy said he instructed his deputy prime minister to conduct a full review of operations in Odesa.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly and Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Kim Coghill, Clarence Fernandez, Alexandra Hudson)