Floods in Russia’s Dagestan have affected thousands. Experts say the disaster reflects not just extreme weather, but deep infrastructure failures.
More than 6,200 people were affected by a series of floods in Dagestan, the region’s head, Sergey Melikov, said on April 7. The hardest-hit areas were Makhachkala, Kaspiysk, and the Khasavyurtovsky and Derbentsky districts, though the situation is now “stabilizing,” according to Melikov.
According to officials and media reports, at least seven people were killed, including four children, though the Emergency Situations Ministry has reported six deaths. Homes, roads, and bridges were flooded or damaged, and power outages were reported across several settlements. Authorities have also warned of possible outbreaks of infectious diseases, and a state of emergency has been declared in the republic.
Officials have attributed the flooding primarily to “unprecedented” rainfall. But as Forbes Russia notes, the scale of the damage reflects not only the effects of climate change cited by authorities, but also longstanding internal problems — including unregulated construction and the breakdown or absence of drainage infrastructure.
One of the areas hit hardest by the floods in Dagestan was the regional capital, Makhachkala, and its surrounding suburbs, Forbes Russia reports. In March, rainfall there was four times higher than average. City officials described the flooding as a “manifestation of climate change.”
But some experts say the scale of the disaster has less to do with the climate than with human factors. According to Raisa Gracheva of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Geography, the destruction wasn’t caused so much by unusually heavy rainfall as by the city’s inability to handle rain at all.
A key problem is the polluted October Revolution Canal — a 91-kilometer (57-mile) artificial waterway that runs from the Sulak River through Makhachkala to the town of Izberbash. In the Soviet era, it formed the backbone of Dagestan’s irrigation system, and in the 1990s it also became a source of drinking water for residents around Makhachkala.
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But, Forbes Russia writes, keeping that water clean is effectively impossible: the canal runs open along its entire length. It collects sewage, garbage, and even animal carcasses; heavy rains cause it to overflow, further degrading water quality. And although officials have designated a protected zone around the canal and banned construction nearby, building continues right up to its banks.
A long-discussed reconstruction project — which would enclose the canal in pipes and install proper drainage and treatment systems — could address many of these issues. But despite being proposed in 2021 at a cost of 15 billion rubles ($193 million), it was never carried out.
Unregulated construction has also damaged the network of smaller irrigation channels connected to the canal. These are often filled in with soil and debris, built over, or turned into roads, geographer Shakhmardan Muduev told Forbes Russia. One example is the flood-hit settlement of Karaman-2, built without any drainage system on land originally used for seasonal grazing.
More broadly, Makhachkala’s chaotic urban growth — and the lack of any coherent development plan — has left it especially vulnerable. Many buildings, including multi-story apartment blocks, were constructed without proper permits, sometimes on agricultural land or in garden cooperatives. Authorities have attempted crackdowns: in 2023, they moved to classify 457 apartment buildings as illegal, and in February 2026, more than 1,300 unauthorized structures were demolished. But residents say demolitions often simply make way for new construction.
Basic infrastructure is also missing. Experts told Forbes Russia that many newer neighborhoods lack drainage systems, storm sewers, or runoff channels. In some areas, there has been no sewage or drainage infrastructure for decades.
The consequences have been severe. On April 5, flooding caused a three-story extension of a residential building in Makhachkala to collapse. Officials said it had been built in a river floodplain in violation of construction rules — part of what they called “reckless development.” Dagestan head Sergey Melikov said specialists are now examining riverbeds and reviewing documents for buildings constructed nearby.
Melikov acknowledged longstanding problems, saying he had tried for three years to address them but faced resistance from property owners. “Maybe this situation will teach people to take better care of both their property and the broader needs of the city and the republic,” he said.
Dagestan residents, however, describe a familiar cycle: federal funds are allocated for infrastructure upgrades, contractors carry out substandard work, officials look for someone to blame, and little ultimately changes.
Other contributing factors include poor oversight of reservoirs and clogged riverbeds. In the Derbentsky District, an earthen dam at the Gedzhukh reservoir — designated potentially hazardous as far back as 2006 — gave way. Although some repairs were carried out in 2014, there is no evidence of a full reconstruction. According to Muduev, the reservoir may have overflowed because standard safety procedures — such as releasing excess water — were not followed.
In theory, the rivers running through Dagestan’s cities could safely channel away rainwater. In practice, many are blocked with debris, built over, or used as dumping grounds and informal sewage outlets.
Flooding in Dagestan is not new. The region was inundated twice in 2025 after heavy rains. Officials acknowledge that infrastructure problems are a key factor, but they have gone unresolved for years. After the first wave of flooding in late March, the outlet Agentstvo concluded that local authorities had failed to prepare for the 2026 floods.
