AFGHANISTAN: Hundreds of families displaced by floods, livelihoods lost
Source: IRIN
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PANJSHIR, 4 July 2007 (IRIN) - Almost a week after floods ravaged eight provinces in Afghanistan 26-28 June, aid agencies have started
releasing their assessments of casualties and damage incurred. According to a preliminary report by the UN Children's Agency (UNICEF), flash floods killed 113 people in six provinces, including six
victims in Kabul. "A total of 688 houses have been washed away and 212 others have suffered partial damage," UNICEF said. Panjshir and Kapisa provinces, in the north of the country, have been the
worst affected areas, where floods killed more than 90 people on 28 June, the UN reported. Afghanistan's National Disasters Management Authority (ANDMA) has described the damage caused by the floods
and torrential rain as "disastrous". "Thousands of hectares of farmland have been destroyed; dams and bridges have been damaged; hundreds of fruit trees have been washed away and many farm animals
killed," an ANDMA report said. Humanitarian response UN agencies, government bodies, private foundations and several humanitarian organisations have delivered food and non-food relief items to
flood-affected communities in Panjshir, Kapisa and Kunar provinces. "We have [seen] an impressive humanitarian response to the crisis," said Abdul Matin Adrak, the director of ANDMA, on 4 July. However, people in several other flood-stricken locations have criticised aid bodies for shortcomings and inefficiency. Some residents of southeastern Paktia Province, displaced by the floods, said
they had not received any humanitarian relief for more than a week. Displaced persons Flooding has displaced hundreds of families whose houses are either completely destroyed or damaged. A
substantial number of displaced families now live in tents distributed by the Afghan Red Crescent Society. Others have sought refuge with relatives. Sitting with his five children and his wife in a
5x3 metre tent in the Sarkano District of eastern Kunar Province, Shah Bahar cried over the loss of his house and property. "I lost all the earnings of my life…I will not be able to recover
what I have lost in the flood," said the 39-year-old man whose grocery shop had also been washed away. In another affected province, Panjshir, displaced families live in tents set up near their
destroyed or damaged houses. Long-term assistance Deedar Shalizai, the governor of Kunar, told IRIN on 4 July that people affected by the floods would require long-term assistance to ease their
hardship and enable them to rebuild their livelihoods. "Many people will restart their lives from scratch," said Shalizai. The government of Afghanistan has approved a bill, according to which
families will receive 10,000 Afghani (US$100) for each dead person, ANDMA confirmed. However, flood victims are unlikely to get government aid to rebuild their livelihoods. "The government may
only help rebuild damaged schools, roads and other public properties," the director of ANDMA said. In Kunar and Panjshir provinces children, who have not gone to school for over a week, play near
the tents, now considered their homes. No outbreaks of waterborne diseases, including diarrhoea, have been reported so far. However, Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health, in collaboration with
UNICEF, has decided to distribute water purification tablets and 50,000 Oral Rehydration Salts sachets as a preventive measure. mm/nk/ad/at/cb© IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian
news and analysis: http://www.irinnews.org
