Thousands of people in northwestern Burundi, displaced after days of heavy rainfall, urgently need relief aid, officials said on Monday.
"The rains have rendered more than 3,000 residents homeless," said Prosper Banzambe, the chief of Gatumba Zone, one of the affected areas in Mitumbuzi Commune, Bujumbura Rural Province.
He said the displaced, some of whom had sought shelter in a local church, needed food and other non-food aid such as blankets, jerry cans, soap and mosquito nets.
The rains, which pounded the area at the weekend, destroyed at least 500 homes. The flooding of the nearby River Kiziba contributed to the houses’ collapse.
Banzambe expressed concern that the continuing rains could cause more damage in Gatumba and appealed for a temporary shelter for the displaced.
He urged humanitarian organisations to help the displaced, saying the local administration was unable to "adequately meet their needs".
The head of Burundi's Red Cross Society in charge of disaster management, Venerant Nzigamasabo, said Red Cross volunteers sprayed the affected areas on Sunday with chemicals to prevent outbreaks of waterborne diseases.
"Our volunteers are still on location carrying out spraying," he said on Monday.
At the same time, Nzigamasabo said relief organisations, including the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) would meet to assess what had been done so far to help the displaced and to coordinate relief efforts.
Nzigamasabo said another meeting, to be attended by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Red Cross officials, would be held to assess non-food aid. "We will also provide tablets to purify drinking water," he said. He added that the public would be made aware of proper hygiene habits.
The reports and public affairs assistant at the Burundi office of the UN World Food Programme, Isidore Nteturuye, said the agency's officials were already in the affected areas to assess the food needs of those displaced and identify the locations affected to facilitate the fast delivery of aid to vulnerable groups.
The heavy rains have also caused damage in Bwiza and Buyenzi urban zones where houses have been destroyed.
"The rain water washed away all my property, including food and clothes," Mungo Mulango, a resident of Bwiza, said.
On 4 January, the government set up a national solidarity fund to support people affected by floods in seven provinces. In a decree, President Pierre Nkurunziza declared the provinces of Kayanza in the north, Muramvya and Karuzi in the central part of the country, Ruyigi in the east, and Bubanza and Cibitoke in the northwest, as "hunger-stricken following floods".
He also announced the establishment of the solidarity fund, to which every Burundian must contribute for four months from the end of January.
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