Tremendous thunderstorms hit Ukraine in early hours of June 30, awaking many Ukrainians in their apartments and homes and sending them rushing to close windows as heavy rain and strong winds swept the country.
As terrified and amazed people shared pictures of lightning flashes on social media, the lightning caused several fires around the country, and huge downpours caused floods in several cities and towns.
The storm first hit western Ukraine on June 28 and then spread all over Ukraine during the night of June 29 – June 30.
Strong winds downed dozens of trees and even bent metal billboards in Ukraine’s east. Power was cut off in 400 villages and towns overnight because of the storm.
Heavy rain caused Ukraine’s Dniester, Syan, Siret, and Prut rivers to break their banks. The rivers’ levels rose by more than two meters, causing flooding throughout Lviv, Chernivtsi, and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts in western Ukraine, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported on its website on June 30.
The storm started in western Ukraine on June 28. More than 200 houses, 35 fields, and 40 basements were flooded. Flood waters also destroyed 14 kilometers of roads, State Emergency Service reported on June 30.
The stormy weather will continue into July 1, with heavy rain and winds of 15-20 meters per second forecast all over Ukraine.
Stunned by the forces of nature, Ukrainians shared on social media photos of the overnight lightning, as well as the destruction the thunderstorm caused in their cities and towns:
“The storm has gone. Its consequences are picturesque. Sad surrealism,” a user from Nikopol, a town in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, wrote in one of Nikopol Facebook groups on June 29. (Courtesy)
Ukraine’s State Agency of Water resources posted a photo of the Dniester River breaking its banks in western Ukraine. The water level in Dniester rose up to 2.5 meters due to the sustained heavy rain in the region that started on June 28.
Oleg Yarema, a resident of Kalush, a city in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, posted a video of the Kolyba Cafe, destroyed by a flood on June 30.
Lightning strikes over the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
