DOUALA, 3 October 2008 (IRIN) - Up to 70,000 people have been affected by flooding in northwestern Cameroon and southern Chad; based on meteorological data, disaster workers with the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) predict a longer and wetter rain season than normal.

Thousands of people have remained homeless in Chad and Cameroon since the rains began early in August, according to Allale.

August flooding affected more than 8,000 families in Logone Occidentale, Mayo Kebbi and Moyen Chari in southern Chad, and 5,000 families in and around Cameroon's northwestern town of Garoua, 60 km west of the Chad border, according to the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC).

The IFRC has launched an emergency appeal to help 14,000 victims across the two countries.

Homeless

Mamadou Saliou Diallo, regional disaster management officer for the Cameroon-based IFRC told IRIN "Most people were left homeless and are still living with relatives, while a small minority are starting now to rebuild their homes."

A man who gave his name as Mbéré told IRIN he is living near a ditch in a district called Chinese Camp. "The waters destroyed part of my house, the enclosure of the farm fell and 20 disappeared, as well as all of my chickens," he said.

He said floods also washed away most of his official documents, including his birth certificate and diplomas.

While resident Honorine, of flooded city of Bongor in Mayo Kebbi, 2km from the Cameroon border, told IRIN "The water doesn't stop rising…the water levels are only climbing higher and higher in the city."

Health worries, crops destroyed

Flooding has exposed residents to respiratory infections, malaria and diarrhoeal diseases, including cholera, according to the Washington DC-based food security monitoring organisation, FEWSNET.

With blocked roads and destroyed bridges in and around Garoua in northwest Cameroon, the biggest fear for flood victims there is the lack of drinking water, according to the IFRC's Diallo.

In Cameroon, 80 percent of the agricultural land around Garoua was destroyed, wiping out crops. "This destruction of agricultural land constitutes a real threat to families who can no longer raise or rely on food reserves," said Flora Tene, head of disaster management in IFRC's Yaounde office.

In Chad, Bongor's mayor Ramadan Djasria told IRIN additional rains will reduce the 2008 harvest. Moderate levels of food insecurity in the affected Moyen Chari region have already increased because of the floods, said a FEWSNET report, by further increasing already-high cereal prices.

One kilo of millet costs 50 US cents in August 2008, up by 92 percent since one year ago.

Allale of the IFRC says more rains are expected in both countries through November.

"In light of weather forecasts, with rains expected to continue until the end of November, the situation may become even worse," estimates Tene in Yaounde.

Help

The Cameroon and Chad Red Cross societies report giving blankets, plastic sheets, mats and basic hygiene supplies such as water purification tablets to thousands of affected families.

In Chad, an urban support committee made up of residents and local officials in Bongor is calling on the national government help for affected populations; none has as yet arrived, according to Mayor Djasria.

The IFRC'S Diallo said more work needs to be done to inform people in at-risk neighbourhoods to prepare better for floods, to promote the construction of latrines year-round, and to distribute water purification tablets post-floods.

Preparations http://irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79842 include storing valuables high off the ground and in their houses, and moving in with relatives or friends away from flood-prone areas.

Over the long-term, both countries need stronger water-pipe networks, said the IFRC's Diallo, But Garoua town council spokesperson, Amadou Bellou said the town cannot afford it.

"Water infrastructure is expensive and are beyond the reach of small communities like ours," Bello pointed out.

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