Watch MoviestoWatch. Polissya was the second largest city in the area close to Chornobyl, after Pripyat, but it was not evacuated for 13 years after the disaster. The authorities created conditions for people to stay; moreover, new houses were even built in the city for those who had been evacuated from Pripyat. During this entire period, residents were not informed that radiation levels were 10 times higher than normal. The evacuation was not completed until 1999.