April floods
In April 2024, Kazakhstan faced devastating floods in several regions of the country. Authorities called them “the largest disaster in terms of scale and consequences in the last 80 years.”
The disaster affected a total of more than 120,000 people in the Abay, Akmola, Aktobe, Atyrau, West Kazakhstan, Karaganda, Pavlodar, North Kazakhstan and Ulytau regions . At the same time, many victims reported insufficient preparation for the disaster on the part of local authorities.
"There was no forecasting work at all, which is connected with the shortage of specialists of the relevant profile. The consequences and scale of the disaster, even taking into account the weather conditions, could have been less if the akimats had carried out all the planned flood control measures annually. Apparently, the akimats did not do this," President Tokayev later admitted.
The victims were also outraged by the slowness and disorganization of the government response. For example, in the village of Koyandy in Akmola Oblast, a group of citizens went to the akimat demanding that measures be taken to combat the flooding and that a state of emergency be declared. In response, six protesters were fined between 70,000 and 185,000 tenge for an "illegal rally."
In total, more than seven thousand people were mobilized to combat the consequences of the floods, and more than two thousand units of equipment were brought in. During the disaster, seven people died . Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov promised that "the guilty officials will be brought to disciplinary responsibility," and citizens will receive compensation.
Later, the victims did receive payments from the state. However, not everyone was happy with them. For example, residents of Kulsary, one of the most affected cities, protested in the square for several days. They disagreed with the assessment of the damaged housing and demanded 400 thousand tenge per square meter instead of 240 thousand.
The authorities also acknowledged that in some cases payments were very slow: for example, by July 25, only a third of the applicants from among the affected entrepreneurs had received their compensation. The Deputy Prime Minister noted that "such bureaucracy causes discontent among the population."