Flood relief under way

Humanitarian relief began to be distributed on Tuesday to victims of Afghan floods, which have left at least four confirmed dead, 200 missing and thousands homeless, interior ministry officials said. "As of 22 March, three men and a woman have been reported dead in the Gezab district of [the central province of] Uruzgan and 750 houses destroyed in Dehrawood district of that province," Dad Mohammad, a spokesman for the interior ministry, told IRIN in Afghan capital Kabul. The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) had already made contingency plans to provide assistance to people affected by the floods, which were expected to hit as the snow melted, but have been exacerbated by heavy rains over the last few days. "In southwestern Farah province, WFP today started urgently needed food distributions to Afghans hit by floods. A total of 25 mt of wheat, rice and pulses were sent to the province last week. This food should cover the most immediate food needs of nearly 5,000 people," Maarten Roest, the food agency's spokesman in Kabul told IRIN. A flash flood in the central province of Uruzgan's Deh Rawud district on 18 March led to the evacuation of 400 people to the provincial capital, Tirin Kot. WFP was able to draw on a total of 110 mt of prepositioned food available in the city. In Deh Rawud itself, the food agency told IRIN it had delivered 230 mt of food, including 10 mt which were airlifted by Coalition forces in the last two days, enough to feed 25,000 people for one month. Coalition spokeswoman Lt Cindy Moore told the AP news agency on Tuesday that troops were distributing tents to people made homeless in the region, but that the situation was no longer critical. The initial floods were caused by melting snow after the severest winter in Afghanistan in two decades. The situation was then compounded by torrential rains, which led to burst river banks, damaged roads and flooded villages in various parts of the country. "Even before the snow began to melt, WFP warned of possible floods and has since been preparing assistance to flood prone areas," said Michael Jones, WFP Deputy Country Director for Afghanistan and acting UN Humanitarian Coordinator. "Pre-positioning of food allows us to provide timely assistance in Farah, as well as in other regions at risk in the country, such as Uruzgan province." In western Herat province, hundreds of houses have been damaged by floodwaters or heavy rain, Nooruddin Ahmadi, an official for the Afghan Red Crescent, told IRIN. Relief workers were unable to reach many villages because of raging rivers or deep snow, he added. The interior ministry said heavy flooding had destroyed hundred of hectares of land and damaged more than 100 houses in Ghwaja Du Koh district in the northern Jowzjan province. "If the government and aid organisations do not take immediate measures, more than 1,500 hundred families will be affected by flooding from the Aamo river in Jawzjan province," ministry spokesman Mohammad stressed. The government said it was doing its best to warn Afghans of the potential danger of flooding through messages on the country's fledgling radionetwork. Village elders, mullahs and local NGOs have also been deployed to spread the message that local people should be aware of the danger of flooding for some weeks to come. WFP is working to place food supplies downstream on the river Helmand in southern Helmand and Nimruz province in case the river flooded there, affecting thousands more people, Roest added.