AFGHANISTAN: Floods kill 17 across seven regions*

26 Jun 2007 15:59:48 GMT

KABUL, 26 June 2007 (IRIN) - Unusual flash floods, and a landslide, have
killed at least 17 people, mostly women and children, in seven provinces
of Afghanistan, the country's disaster management authority and
provincial officials said on 26 June.

On 25 June, torrential rain led to a wave of floods in the eastern Kunar
Province that resulted in human losses and inflicted damage.

"We have identified seven individuals who died in the flooding. Three
other individuals are missing," Shalezai Deedar, the governor of Kunar,
told IRIN from his office.

According to Deedar, floods have also destroyed tens of houses, as well
as fruit trees, bridges, roads, power dams and agricultural land.

"People are in urgent need of humanitarian aid, including foodstuffs,
tents and medicine," said Deedar.

Flash floods

In the north of the capital, Kabul, three children and two women were
killed by flash floods that hit Qara Bagh and Farza districts,
Afghanistan's National Disasters Management Authority (ANDMA) said.

Strong waves also damaged dozens of houses and killed tens of farm
animals in the area, ANDMA added.

Elsewhere in Kapisa Province, to the north of Kabul, the administrator
of Nejrab District reported three deaths and one person missing due to
the flooding.

In Wardak, Logar, Nangarhar, Panjshir and Parwan provinces flooding
destroyed crops, trees, farms and livestock, causing further hardships
to many poor farmers.

On 24 June, a landslide caused by heavy rain took the lives of six
children in the northern Kunduz Province, local official said.

Families evacuated

In the Kama District of eastern Nangarhar Province, about 40 people were
stranded in a remote location for more than six hours, provincial
authorities told IRIN.

"We called upon the Ministry of Defence to evacuate those people by
helicopter," said Shukrullah Ehsas, an official from ANDMA in Nangarhar
Province.

The affected people had been taken by military helicopter to a safe
location, Ehsas said.

Humanitarian response

"We have called for an emergency meeting to be chaired by Second
Vice-President Karim Khalili at which we will consider all necessary
actions such as evacuation operations and aid delivery - should any be
needed," the director of ANDMA, Matin Adrak, said.

Officials in most of the flood-affected provinces have called on the UN
and international humanitarian aid organisations to assist them in
managing the consequences of the recent spate of natural disasters.

Adrian Edwards, a spokesman for the UN Assistance Mission in
Afghanistan, said: "When we get reports like this we have to assess as
quickly as possible what the needs are. Once we know those needs we will
be in a position to act, or to make sure that others are responding."

Vulnerable to natural disasters

So far in 2007, heavy rain, flooding and avalanches have killed scores
of people and destroyed hundreds of houses across Afghanistan.

The country, with its mostly rugged terrain and poor transport
infrastructure, has been considered acutely vulnerable to natural disasters.

A UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) mission that visited
Afghanistan in July 2006 recommended the "revitalisation" and
"modernisation" of the country's weak disaster response and management
capacity.

In April 2007, IRIN reported that most of the 73 recommendations set
forth by UNDAC mission had seen little or no progress.