Over 120 people have died and 10,000 houses have been destroyed or damaged by floods which have affected about 20 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces in the past month, officials say.
The floods have also damaged agriculture and infrastructural facilities such as roads, schools, and health centres.
“Damage levels have been extensive,” Mohammad Zahir Amiri, regional director of the Afghan Red Crescent Society in northern Afghanistan, told IRIN.
Most of the affected provinces are in the north, northeast and northwest but the central provinces of Bamyan and Daykundi have also suffered, officials said.
“Education has been paralysed in some areas because bridges and footpaths have been washed away,” said Abdul Rahman Ahmadi, a spokesman of the governor of Bamyan, adding that at least one rural health centre had been destroyed.
Needs assessments have been hindered in some remote areas because roads have been damaged, officials said.
Mobile health teams had been dispatched to several affected areas to prevent diarrhoea outbreaks due to contaminated water sources, they added.
Only 23 percent of Afghans have access to clean drinking water and 12 percent to sanitation. Water-borne diseases kill thousands of children every year, according to the UN Children’s Fund.
Insufficient aid?
Aid agencies are helping the government respond.
The UN World Food Programme has assisted over 5,800 flood-affected families, and other UN agencies have provided non-food aid items, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report.
A National Emergency Commission, headed by the county’s second vice-president, said three million Afghanis (about US$65,000) had been earmarked for relief and rebuilding in each flood-affected province.
However, Bamyan governor’s spokesman Ahmadi said a government delegation from Kabul had only brought with them one million Afghanis (about US$21,500) for distribution to what he called “hundreds of severely affected families”.
“The government’s assistance cannot even meet a small portion of the needs,” Ahmadi said.
The OCHA report described damage inflicted on infrastructure and livelihoods as “high”, noting: “Road clearance, rehabilitation of agricultural land, and air access were identified as priorities.”
The government acknowledges it needs help from donors.
At least 340 people have died in natural disasters such as avalanches, earthquakes and floods in Afghanistan in less than four months, according to aid agencies and government officials.
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The floods have also damaged agriculture and infrastructural facilities such as roads, schools, and health centres.
“Damage levels have been extensive,” Mohammad Zahir Amiri, regional director of the Afghan Red Crescent Society in northern Afghanistan, told IRIN.
Most of the affected provinces are in the north, northeast and northwest but the central provinces of Bamyan and Daykundi have also suffered, officials said.
“Education has been paralysed in some areas because bridges and footpaths have been washed away,” said Abdul Rahman Ahmadi, a spokesman of the governor of Bamyan, adding that at least one rural health centre had been destroyed.
Needs assessments have been hindered in some remote areas because roads have been damaged, officials said.
Mobile health teams had been dispatched to several affected areas to prevent diarrhoea outbreaks due to contaminated water sources, they added.
Only 23 percent of Afghans have access to clean drinking water and 12 percent to sanitation. Water-borne diseases kill thousands of children every year, according to the UN Children’s Fund.
| Natural disaster deaths, Feb-May 2010 | |||
| 175 killed in avalanches in Salang Pass, February | |||
| 5 killed in avalanches in Badakhshan Province, February | |||
| 20 killed in floods in Kandahar Province, February | |||
| 12 killed in floods in Herat Province, February | |||
| 2 killed in floods in Ghor Province, February | |||
| 2 killed in floods in Bamyan Province, February | |||
| 11 killed in earthquake in Samangan Province, April | |||
| 120 killed in floods in different provinces, April-May |
Aid agencies are helping the government respond.
The UN World Food Programme has assisted over 5,800 flood-affected families, and other UN agencies have provided non-food aid items, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report.
A National Emergency Commission, headed by the county’s second vice-president, said three million Afghanis (about US$65,000) had been earmarked for relief and rebuilding in each flood-affected province.
However, Bamyan governor’s spokesman Ahmadi said a government delegation from Kabul had only brought with them one million Afghanis (about US$21,500) for distribution to what he called “hundreds of severely affected families”.
“The government’s assistance cannot even meet a small portion of the needs,” Ahmadi said.
The OCHA report described damage inflicted on infrastructure and livelihoods as “high”, noting: “Road clearance, rehabilitation of agricultural land, and air access were identified as priorities.”
The government acknowledges it needs help from donors.
At least 340 people have died in natural disasters such as avalanches, earthquakes and floods in Afghanistan in less than four months, according to aid agencies and government officials.
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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