29 May 2015 | 02:40

40m poplar tree topples on cars in Pavlodar

Photo courtesy of Aliya Medetova.

A 40-meters poplar tree has collapsed during the recent wind storm in Pavlodar city in northern Kazakhstan, smashing the cars parked nearby. Luckily no one was hurt, Tengrinews reports.

The incident occurred in a courtyard of one of the apartment houses on May 1 Street. A strong wind on May 17 uprooted the tree, causing damage to several cars, smashing two of them badly, and blocking off the road.

The owner of one of the smashed cars said his family was going to drive off to the countryside minutes before the accident, but, fortunately, they changed their mind.

Everyone were saying that it was a miracle that no one was hurt. “A lot of children were playing in the courtyard around that time (when the tree fell). Fortunately, no one was hurt. Children usually roller skate and ride their bikes around the yard,” the resident of the apartment house Gulnara Abrayeva said.

But, the residents claimed the weather was not the only factor in that story, they also blamed the local utility services. “The local utility services often dig holes in our yard. Last time Vodokanal (state enterprise that provides water services) dug right next to the trees. They apparently damaged the tree’s roots, so now it collapsed. It was green and healthy on the outside, but the roots must have been short. They had obviously cut them,” people said in an outrage.

Now the owners of the damaged cars are going to try to hold the utility services responsible for the accident and demand a compensation for the damage done.

The series of this year's May storms hit other cities of Kazakhstan as well.

On May 16, a strong wind with squall of rain knocked down trees and broke power lines in Kazakhstan's largest southern city of Almaty. Due to the adverse weather conditions, many flights were delayed.

Photo from Instagram profile of @erdentelemisov

Broken power lines on Kablukov Street

Fallen trees blocked off tram road

According to the city’s Emergency Department, there were no casualties, but a lot of people called complaining of broken power lines and fallen trees.

Heavy rains flooded the streets of Kazakhstan’s capital Astana. The city’s residents began to share photos in social networks capturing the terrific weather rampaging through the city, turning its streets into rivers, nearing sending cars floating and causing huge traffic jams.

The city's Mayor Adilbek Dzhaksybekov instructed the city's services to make sure the water pumps were ready at flood prone areas, since no one rules out the possibility that such weather may hit the city again.

According to the Mayor's press service, city services were working round the clock the eliminate the fallout. Over the weekend, they pumped away over 10 thousand cubic meters of water.

The torrential rain also flooded several streets in Kostanay city in northern Kazakhstan.

Heavy rain also flooded the trenches and turned the soil into thick mud.

According to Marina Schmidt, head of the short-term weather forecasts at KazHydroMet, Kazakhstan’s national weather service, such heavy rainfalls and strong winds are typical for this time of year. Bad weather in southern Kazakhstan can be explained by a cyclone that came from Uzbekistan. "The cyclone has been moving from south to north, so heavy rains with thunderstorms, strong winds and hail in places hit southern Kazakhstan. The cyclone also affected the central regions of the country, Akmola and North Kazakhstan Oblasts,” she explained.

The next onslaught of the adverse weather came with a cyclone on May 20, bringing heavy rainfall to Kazakhstan. "The cyclone formed in the central regions of Russia and shifted from west to east affecting Kostanay and Akmola Oblast and then moving on to the east," Schmidt said.

Reporting by Vladimir Prokopenko, writing by Assel Satubaldina, editing by Tatyana Kuzmina

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