Lost Places - Chornobyl Zone

After emergency evacuation of the Exclusion Zone on December 11, 2012, Chornobyl passed to uncertainty, expectations and finding a way out of difficult situations. Electrician repairing loosed wires, road service cleaned the snow and the weather continued “to please” and add problems – after almost zero temperatures and sleet, frosts struck up to -20^оС. It became quite obvious that if in the next few days power will not be restored in Chornobyl, the entire water treatment system, water-supply and heating engineering will be lost and there will be no place for staff to return…

It was snowing for several days, and windless weather and zero temperature only worsened the situation. In the evening of December 10 the amount of snow on tree branches and wires of power lines has reached a critical mass. It became clear that if the snow does not stop falling, then towards morning the situation will be mirthless... Throughout the night of December 10 to 11 outside I have heard crackling of falling trees, popping and snapping of short circuits in power lines.

December 26, 2011. Around 12 a.m. we come back from Iitate to Minamisoma and go to the local city hall, to meet with the Minamisoma decontamination project director Tokio Hayama.

December 26, at 7:00 we leave our hotel in Minamisoma and go to the mountain village of Iitate.