FLOODS

Appeals for help have been sounded following storms, heavier than usual rains and floods that have hit the Sahel in recent weeks, rendering many homeless in The Gambia and Senegal in the west and Chad in the east. Gambia appeals for help In Banjul, Vice President Isatou Njie-Saidy appealed on Tuesday for assistance from international donors and the local business community. Rain-induced floods displaced up to 10,000 people in the countryside and sources said the country needed help with food, shelter, clothing and medicines. The worst hit areas are the Central River, Upper River and Western administrative divisions where, humanitarian and media sources said, close to 3,000 homes have been swept away. Schools and roads have been washed away and some communities have been cut off by flood waters. Parts of the capital, Banjul, and outlying towns were also flooded. "In some homes the water has reached the ceiling," one source in the capital said. More than 30,000 reported homeless in Senegal In central Senegal, heavy rains destroyed many houses, mainly mud huts, and killed at least three people, news organisations reported officials as saying on 21 August. The private newspaper, 'Walfadjiri', reported that around 30,000 people were made homeless in the worst affected region, the area around Kaolack, some 200 km southeast of Dakar. The rains began falling in much of the country around the 13 August, it added. The heavy rains and floods on land have been accompanied by coastal storms which have killed about 100 Senegalese and Gambian fishermen over the past one-week period, according to news reports. Flood displaces 300, kills five in Nigeria Five persons have been confirmed dead while no fewer than 60 houses were submerged after the River Obi overflowed its banks in Benue in Nigeria's middle belt, 'The Guardian' reported on 27 August. The flood, said to be the area's worst in five years, swamped farmland close to the river and rendered around 300 persons homeless, according to the paper. It was caused by a downpour that created multiple flood channels in the area. OCHA calls for food for Chad's flood victims The abnormally wet season, which has also caused floods in Timbuktu in northern Mali, was first reported in Chad. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a `Situation Report' on 23 August, that Chad urgently needed food for at least 128,000 flood victims in 11 of its 14 provinces. OCHA said Chad needed 450 mt of cereals along with urgent supplies of medicines, tents, blankets and plastic sheets. "In order to allow the affected population to rebuild their homes quickly, hand tools are urgently needed," OCHA added. Heavy rains in late July caused the rivers Batha and Bahr Azoum to flood, seriously affecting their basins. In mid-August, Chad's Ministry of Interior noted that 5,200 homes had been destroyed, some 5,000 head of livestock lost and at least 165,000 ha of agricultural land flooded, the report said. So far, the United States has contributed US $25,000 to the Chad Red Crescent Society. OCHA said it would serve as a channel to receive cash contributions for immediate relief and provide written confirmation of their use. Funds should be transferred to OCHA Account No. CO-590.160.1 at the UBS AG, PO Box 2770, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland, with reference: OCHA - Chad - Floods 1999, the UN body said.