![[Congo] Transportation of relief items by flood victims in Brazzaville, Congo, 25 November 2006. Torrential rains have flooded several northeastern neighbourhoods of the city, causing landslides and sweeping away homes. The International Partnerships for](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/2006112710.jpg.webp?itok=X52j-dUd "Flood victims in northeasterj Brazzaville, the capital, receiving aid from the International Partnerships for Human Development, a US NGO.")
Aid has begun to trickle in to help some of the 5,000 flood victims in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo, according to a local official of an American aid body.
The International Partnerships for Human Development (IPHD) on Saturday began distributing rice, foam mats, mosquito nets, buckets, torches, blankets, washing powder and school books to 2,800 people, from the US$66,000 provided by the US embassy and the oil giant Chevron Texaco.
"The amount is so small that we cannot take care of everyone needing help," Louis Ngoma, the IPHD health project coordinator, said in Brazzaville.
Torrential rains have flooded several northeastern neighbourhoods of the city, causing landslides and sweeping away homes.
The government has been unable to provide relief. An official at the Ministry of Humanitarian Aid, who did not wish to be identified, said government attention had been fixed firmly on refugees from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, who had fled ethnic fighting and were now living along the Congo River, some 200 km north of Brazzaville.
Ngoma said flood victims who had lost their homes were being hosted by other families. Those whose homes are still standing have returned as water levels have receded.
He said there had not been any reports of disease outbreaks but there was still a risk of diarrhoeal diseases.
"When there are such floods, epidemics do not break out immediately. We must intervene to prevent them, especially those that might arise from the presence of faecal material," he said.
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The International Partnerships for Human Development (IPHD) on Saturday began distributing rice, foam mats, mosquito nets, buckets, torches, blankets, washing powder and school books to 2,800 people, from the US$66,000 provided by the US embassy and the oil giant Chevron Texaco.
"The amount is so small that we cannot take care of everyone needing help," Louis Ngoma, the IPHD health project coordinator, said in Brazzaville.
Torrential rains have flooded several northeastern neighbourhoods of the city, causing landslides and sweeping away homes.
The government has been unable to provide relief. An official at the Ministry of Humanitarian Aid, who did not wish to be identified, said government attention had been fixed firmly on refugees from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, who had fled ethnic fighting and were now living along the Congo River, some 200 km north of Brazzaville.
Ngoma said flood victims who had lost their homes were being hosted by other families. Those whose homes are still standing have returned as water levels have receded.
He said there had not been any reports of disease outbreaks but there was still a risk of diarrhoeal diseases.
"When there are such floods, epidemics do not break out immediately. We must intervene to prevent them, especially those that might arise from the presence of faecal material," he said.
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