Ukrainian-Americans grappling with 'heartbreaking' aftermath of Kakhovka dam collapse
NORTH TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — Ukrainian officials are calling this the largest man-made environmental disaster in Europe in decades.
"It's been very emotional," Galina Nikulina said. "With this issue now, with this flood, I don't want to spread the bad news, but it's like who knows what's going to happen."
Nikulina has lived in the U.S. for 20 years, but is from a city not far from the destroyed Kakhovka dam. Most of her extended family still lives there.
"Many regions are underwater, including houses...the water has been rising," she said. "Many places are getting flooded so our family is not going to go back to our home."
Ukrainians are now left with no access to safe drinking water, and are worried about the spread of disease as they work to escape Russian-occupied areas.
"They're not even allowing people to get saved because they start shooting at them," Nikulina said. "Somebody needs to do something."
Locally, the Ukrainian Cultural Club of Dallas is collecting humanitarian supplies to send overseas and into the most impacted areas.
"There are some really, really heartbreaking stories of people who lost everything," Olena Jacobs said. "No home, no anything and they live in these quickly-built small shelters basically and they need everything."
The Texas Baptist Men have been in the conflict zone since the war began. They're helping with funding for food and supplies, as well as evacuations.
If you'd like to help, here's a specific list of supplies the Ukrainian community is hoping to collect. They are also looking for help with packing supplies.