Heavy rains cause flooding, strand food convoy

Over 2,500 residents of the northern Ethiopia border town of Himora have been displaced from their homes following the overflowing of the Tekeze river, Ethiopia radio reported on Monday. This flooded parts of the town, forcing residents to flee to higher ground. The river forms part of the common border between Ethiopia and Eritrea until it crosses into Sudan (where it becomes the Setit), a short distance downstream of Himora. Heavy rains in western Eritrea earlier in July cut roads and caused the Gash river to flood, forcing the suspension of an operation to repatriate more than 174,000 Eritrean refugees from Sudan. Humanitarian sources told IRIN that heavy rain has also been falling in the central highlands of Ethiopia, cutting some rural roads and making others impassable to all but four-wheel drive vehicles. On 27 July, the state-run Walta Information Centre reported that 65 trucks carrying relief food destined for drought relief operations in South Welo Zone of the Amhara Regional State had been stranded for eight days some 40 km short of their destination. After local people failed to pull the trucks out of the mud, local authorities were appealing for heavy machinery to help rescue the convoy, Walta said.