Aftermath of the surge wave in the village of Morskoy. Picture: Yulia Romanenko

Over 60 houses and house territories were hit by an icy surge wave - alike to a mini tsunami - on the New Year’s day.

Villages of Okhotsk, Novaya Inya and Morskoy west of Magadan were affected, with a 37km long part of a winter road blocked by sea water and ice.

Surge waves are quite typical for this area of Khabarovsk region in winters, yet the strength of the latest one caused a lot of panic and stress among the locals.

Engineer Yulia Romanenko shared pictures of the flooded village of Morskoy on instagram, begging her followers and friends to repost it as ‘help was late to come.’

‘Please help, it’s really scary. Sea crashed on the village of Morskoy today on 1 Jan with huge waves and snow storm. People are desperate as they’ve got nowhere to go.

'Please share this video, my house went underwater as did houses of my family members and fellow villagers. We need help!’ she wrote on her social media page.



Villages of Okhotsk, Novaya Inya and Morskoy west of Magadan were affected, with a 37km long part of a winter road blocked by sea water and ice. Pictures from the village of Morskoy by Yulia Romanenko

A temporary shelter was provided to people affected by the wave by the regional ministry of emergencies; most of them preferred to stay with family members.

Works will continue over the weekend to clear debris and evaluate the damage from the flood.

Villages Okhotsk, Novaya Inya and Morskoy are some 430km west of Magadan; their combined population is over 4000 people.