Igor Sergeenko is on a working trip to the Vitebsk region
According to Sergey Sadovsky, Chairman of the Ushachi District Executive Committee, a strong hurricane swept through the region on July 1. In just 10 minutes, agricultural and civil facilities, and forests were significantly damaged. In close cooperation with the structures of the regional executive committee, the Ministry of Energy, and the Ministry of Forestry, the main problematic issues were resolved within 24 hours – road blockages, restoration of electricity and water supply. 5,000 subscribers were disconnected from the power grid. Five teams of power engineers from Borisov also provided assistance. 170 trees were felled in the settlements. Indifferent citizens helped the housing and communal services in their removal. 265 people applied to Belgosstrakh for assistance totaling about 130 thousand rubles. Approximately 40 thousand rubles were allocated from the reserve fund of the district executive committee to eliminate the consequences of the hurricane at agricultural and housing and communal services facilities.
The harvesting campaign in the Ushachi district is hampered by frequent downpours. However, the harvest is proceeding one and a half to two weeks ahead of last year's schedule. Sergey Sadovsky is confident that the harvest will be completed earlier than usual.
According to Yuri Lipsky, General Director of the Vitebsk State Production Forestry Association, 258 hectares of forest were damaged by the hurricane on July 14 in the northern region. The largest areas are in the Orsha, Ushachi, and Tolochin districts. The consequences of the disaster will be fully eliminated by November 1. Timber is supplied to woodworking shops, shipped under contracts, and requests from the regional and district executive committees for the elimination of hurricane consequences are also being fulfilled. New forest plantations will be laid in the cleared areas in the autumn. The Vitebsk State Production Forestry Association is ready to accept assistance in planting new trees from all concerned citizens.
Representatives of the Vitebsk region are helping their colleagues in the Gomel region, which was most affected by the hurricane. About 150 people and 40 harvesters are working there. Continuous sanitary felling will be carried out on almost 1.6 thousand hectares.
Noting the clarity of actions taken to eliminate the consequences of the hurricane, Igor Sergeenko emphasized that due to climate change, we must be in a constant state of readiness for prompt response to natural disasters. He stressed that the work to eliminate the hurricane's aftermath also revealed the best human qualities – people came out to clear debris and helped each other.
Regarding the progress of the harvesting campaign, Igor Sergeenko stated that there are no serious remarks on the organization of work. He expressed a wish for higher crop yields in the Vitebsk region.
Source: vitebsk-region.gov.by