20,000 evacuated amid Kinshasa floods

The flooding in Kinshasa which has resulted from historically high water levels in the Congo River has forced city authorities and NGOs to evacuate 20,000 people from their homes in 13 of the capital's 24 communes, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Thursday. With the peak of the rainy season expected in the course of this month and two-thirds of Kinshasa vulnerable to flooding, "the risk of having to move a considerable portion of Kinshasa's six million people to safer places is high," an OCHA flood report warned. Drinking water supplies are at risk of contamination and the rising flood is threatening the Inga hydraulic installation that provides power for Kinshasa and the Republic of Congo capital, Brazzaville, the report said. Health authorities are concerned because sanitation in Kinshasa is already precarious and cholera is endemic. An emergency committee chaired by the Ministry of Health has appealed for donor assistance, and a preliminary list of requirements "in case of a drastic deterioration of the situation" includes: tents, plastic sheeting, oral rehydration salts, chlorine, medical kits, cooking sets, fuel and food supplies for an estimated 500,000 people for three months, OCHA added. [see OCHA Situation Report at http://www.reliefweb.int]