Ethiopian floods hit 375 000
2006-09-14 15:35
Addis Ababa - Devastating floods are continuing to ravage large parts of Ethiopia since heavy rains first burst riverbanks last month, unleashing killer torrents of water, says the United Nations.
It said across the country, flooding had affected at least 357 000 people, more than 136 000 of whom were homeless, swamping temporary shelter sites and hampering deliveries of relief supplies, particularly in northern Amhara region.
The new accounting represented a substantial rise in damage from the floods that killed at least 639 people in August in eastern, southern and northern Ethiopia and, as of August 25, had affected at least 118 000.
The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that in Amhara, nearly 100 000 people, 37 000 of them displaced, were affected and 68 000 needed immediate food assistance.
Risk of further flood damage 'high'
It said: "Large areas of cropped land are swamped by the flood", adding that unusually heavy seasonal rains had expanded Lake Tana, the region's largest body of water, by 50 metres.
According to OCHA, this had "increased the risk of further flood damage", and said a newly constructed bridge to a resettlement camp had been destroyed in the region, adding to inhabitants' woes and forcing deliveries to be made by boat.
In the central and southern Oromiya region, OCHA reported a "dramatic increase" in the number of flood-affected people to 77 000, with a doubling and tripling of the figure, to nearly 75 000, in the southeastern Somali region.
The agency said water and sanitation facilities were urgently needed in camps for the displaced due to fears of the spread of waterborne diseases, like cholera and malaria.
Ethiopian authorities had appealed for $27m in funds to deal with the disaster, which struck first in the east in early August and later hit the southwest.
Forecasters had warned the country would likely face further flood threats from the rains that were expected to continue until the end of the wet season in September.
Ethiopia, home to 70 million people, had faced heavy floods and droughts in recent years along with other countries in the Horn of Africa, which had endured cycles of deadly weather for decades.