Villagers in Dagestan are busy strengthening their banks amid a dire forecast.

Residents of the village of Butush in the Botlikh District are fortifying the banks of the Aksayka River on their own amidst forecasted downpours, and residents of other villages are helping them. During the first wave of flooding in the village, 100 homes and farms, as well as tens of hectares of land, were inundated.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on April 9, the state of emergency in Dagestan and Chechnya due to the flooding situation was raised from regional to federal.

Residents of the village of Butush in the Botlikh District are independently carrying out work to strengthen the riverbank amid the announced third wave of heavy rains. They are fortifying the bank with tires and sandbags, according to a video posted by Mash Gor.

The risk of further flooding has been announced for April 11. "The village has already suffered damage, and the locals have realized that no one but themselves can protect them from further destruction. They're working almost nonstop. They've brought their own equipment to the banks of the Aksayka River, and people from neighboring villages have come to help," the statement reads.

The video shows villagers laying tires and sandbags on the bank, securing them with netting. They're carrying the tires by hand.

The Dagestan Ministry of Emergency Situations issued an emergency warning today. "By the end of the day on April 10, and during the day from April 11 to 15, a combination of meteorological phenomena is expected in some districts of the Republic of Dagestan: heavy rain, in mountainous areas, heavy precipitation in the form of rain turning to snow, downpours combined with thunderstorms and winds of 22-27 m/s. In some mountainous and high-altitude areas, very heavy snow and fog are expected. River water levels will rise to unfavorable levels, and small mudflows will occur in the mountains," the department's website stated.

On April 1, it was reported that over 100 residential buildings and commercial properties, as well as dozens of hectares of land, including pasture land for livestock, were flooded in the village of Butush in Dagestan, the Botlikh District Administration reported.

Residents also began fighting the flooding. "People came ashore armed with everything they could get their hands on: sandbags, improvised materials, any means to create a barrier against the relentless water element," the Babartovsky District administration wrote on March 31.

Residents created a barrier out of sandbags, which helped prevent further flooding of the village, Chernovik reported on April 1.

"Our fellow countrymen in Butush spent the entire week, from the first day of the disaster, not only restoring damaged homes and social facilities, but also strengthening the banks of the Aktash River to prevent further flooding. It was thanks to this that the second strike "The elements did not cause much damage," said Ruslan Gamzatov, head of the Botlikh district, on April 6.

The village of Butush in the Botlikh district is located in the area of ​​transhumance in the Babayurt district, according to the website of the Babayurt district administration.

As a reminder, the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences linked regular flooding in Dagestan to a combination of natural processes and anthropogenic impacts, which href="https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/419031">increases the scale of natural disasters and increases the risks for people.

Dagestan and Chechnya suffered the most from the disaster, according to the Caucasian Knot report "Spring flooding in the North Caucasus - 2026".

The Caucasian Knot has collected materials on flooding in the republics of the North Caucasus Federal District in the spring of 2026. Thematic page "Flooding in the North Caucasus".