ALMATY, 19 April 2007 (IRIN) - ALMATY, 19 April 2007 (IRIN) - Floods and mudslides caused by heavy downpours hit southern Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday, damaging houses and displacing families, the Kyrgyz Ministry of Emergencies (MOE) has said.

At least six families were evacuated from their homes in southern Jalalabad province after mudslides hit the villages of Charbak and Juzumjan in Aksy district, emergencies ministry spokesman Alisher Tashmatov told IRIN from the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, on Wednesday. They have been sheltered in tents.

The extent of the damage was not immediately clear. An MOE team is on the ground making initial assessments and has already examined 126 houses affected by the mudslide, with most declared fit to live in. The disaster also destroyed 56 non-residential buildings in the villages.

MOE teams have been disinfecting houses and distributing tablets to prevent a typhoid outbreak – a potential risk following mudslides and floods in the area. They are also working to unblock three kilometres of roads obstructed by mud deposits.

About 450 cattle were lost in the mudslide, which preliminary estimates suggest caused US $200,000-worth of damage.

Heavy rains in neighbouring Osh province caused irrigation channels to burst, inflicting damage on schools and houses, Tashmatov said. At least 43 homes were flooded in Uzgen district. In the village of Myrzaaki in Uzgen district 25 houses were damaged. An unspecified number of houses in another Uzgen district village, Kurshab, have been affected, along with two schools.

"According to preliminary information, on 17 April as a result of heavy rain in the village of Kurshab, the Shor-Suu channel burst and homes and two middle schools were flooded," Tashmatov said.

A total of 18 households were flooded in the settlement of Nura in neighbouring Karakulja district.

There are no preliminary reports of casualties.

The ministry has issued a flood and avalanche warning for 17-18 April, and transport on Kyrgyzstan's main north-south artery – the road from Bishkek to the southern town of Osh – has been restricted.

Kyrgyzstan's topography makes it prone to natural disasters. The UN Economic and Social Council says the Central Asian state of five million people is exposed to more than 20 different types of natural hazard, including earthquakes, landslides, flash floods and avalanches.

The European Commission Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) says natural disasters in Kyrgyzstan and its four Central Asian neighbours - Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - have killed about 2,500 people and affected more than 5.5 million people in the past 10 years.

jl/ar/at/

IRIN news