Appeal for aid as floods, mud flows displace 15,000

Aid agencies in Tajikistan have appealed for emergency aid to replenish the country’s stocks, including food, as heavy rain continues to cause floods and mud flows which have displaced over 15,000 people.



A 15 May report by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said continuous torrential rain since 20 April had displaced more than 734 families (over 15,000 individuals), and was stretching emergency supplies country-wide.



"We ask the international community to help replenish our stocks so we can continue to respond to the onslaught of small-scale emergencies," Gabriella Waaijman, an OCHA regional disaster response adviser in Almaty (Kazakhstan), told IRIN.



The Tajik government has said heavy rain between 20 April and 15 May caused flooding and mud flows in 25 of the country’s 58 districts, leaving over 21 people dead. Some 14,000 hectares of agricultural land had been damaged and 3,600 people had lost their homes, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, with Khatlon and Sughd provinces worst hit.



The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has agreed to provide 150 tents to the newly displaced families.



According to OCHA, additional tents, bedding, clothes and kitchen utensils will be needed until displaced families are properly resettled.



Construction tools are also urgently required, as well as training on disaster and earthquake-proof construction methods, as the government has promised to provide safe housing for the displaced.



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