Tents sent to help flood victims

United Nations agencies in Burkina Faso have provided the government with 1,000 tents to house victims of flooding from seasonal heavy rains.

Some 11,170 people have sought shelter in schools and government buildings. Officials had feared that school would be disrupted because classes are set to resume in early October.

The 1,000 tents provided by the UN children’s agency (UNICEF) were part of a total US $1.3 million request the government made to UN agencies in Burkina Faso after the August flooding.

The disaster-stricken provinces include: Oudalan and Soum in the northern Sahel, Bam in the centre of the country and Banwa in the west, according to the UN humanitarian coordination office (OCHA).

The flooding also caused 6,376 people to lose their crops.

OCHA said 53 percent of the victims are located in the Sahelian city of Gorom-Gorom, where 400 tents were sent to house the members of 965 households.

"As of now, the tents are enough to temporarily house the disaster victims.

Now they need to be helped for relocation and reconstruction efforts," Felix Sanfo, of OCHA, told IRIN.

Sanfo said although no water-borne diseases have been reported so far in the flooded areas, partners such as the World Health Organisation have been informed to be vigilant to help prevent outbreaks of cholera. Niger has reported cases of cholera from recent flooding.

Officials in Oudalan province have already stocked medicine to counter any outbreaks of diarrhoea, according to OCHA.

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