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Ukraine: Floods DREF Bulletin no. MDRUA001 Final Report

Countries
Ukraine
Sources
IFRC
Publication date

The Federation's mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. It is the world's largest humanitarian organization and its millions of volunteers are active in 185 countries.

In Brief

Period covered by this Final Report: 4 July to 31 December, 2006.

History of this Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF)-funded operation:

- CHF 98,000 was allocated from the Federation's DREF on 10 July, 2006 to respond to the needs of the operation.

- This operation was expected to be implemented over 3 months, and completed by 10 October, 2006. All planned activities were completed on time. Nevertheless, a situation assessment uncovered that affected people were unprepared for winter. The Ukrainian Red Cross decided to extend the relief operation to 31 December 2006 using unspent funds. In line with Federation reporting standards, the DREF Bulletin Final Report (narrative and financial) was due 90 days after the end of the operation (by 31 March, 2007).

The International Federation undertakes activities that are aligned with its Global Agenda, which sets out four broad goals to meet the Federation's mission to "improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity".

Global Agenda Goals:

- Reduce the numbers of deaths, injuries and impact from disasters.

- Reduce the number of deaths, illnesses and impact from diseases and public health emergencies.

- Increase local community, civil society and Red Cross Red Crescent capacity to address the most urgent situations of vulnerability.

- Reduce intolerance, discrimination and social exclusion and promote respect for diversity and human dignity.

Background and Summary

On 31 June, 2006, a weather front moved rapidly into Ukraine from the Balkans causing hurricanes, heavy rains and large hail in several regions. During the three days of heaviest rain (30 June - 2 July), the level of rainfall exceeded the three-month average for the season. A total of 58 settlements, especially rural ones, were affected by the flooding.

After the disaster, local authorities began restoring basic services which had been disrupted by flooding, rehabilitating infrastructures and communication lines and providing affected people with building materials and wood and coal for heating. The Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS) conducted an assessment of the damage in the affected areas. The findings indicated that the 29 most affected settlements were located in seven rural districts of Ivano-Frankovskaya and Chernovitskaya oblasts and in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The assessment revealed that 75 buildings were completely or partly destroyed and more than 1,100 homes were submerged under water for several hours, some of them several days. Over 300 houses were severely damaged, most of which were made from poor local materials such as airbrick. In addition, electrical and telecommunication lines were severely damaged. Settlements in four districts lost all electrical power and telephone connections. In the meantime, small landslides occurred near six settlements. Over 30 dams and 171 bridges were damaged, more than 2,600 hectares of farmland destroyed and 20 km of riverbanks degraded, over 30 km of riverbeds were blocked by mud, stones and trees, and 200 wells were buried under mud.

As a result of flash floods two women were killed, 17 people were injured, 25 families were left homeless and about 100 people were evacuated. Some 5,000 people were directly affected by the flooding, including 956 children under 15. According to official data, the estimated cost of the damage was CHF 24,000,000.

The situation was most serious in Crimea, where the local government was unable to provide housing for the newly homeless until November when winter was already beginning. The vulnerable had been living with relatives and friends or even in sheds and garages for more than 5 months.

Shelter, drinking water, sanitation, and food supplies were desperately needed. With community leaders, the National Society defined the following criteria for the selection of beneficiaries:

- Families whose homes had been partially or totally destroyed

- Families whose means of income were affected by the floods (mostly crop damage)

- Families with children, single-parent families and the elderly

Within ten days the Ukrainian Red Cross had developed a plan of action which assisted some 3,000 of the most vulnerable people in the most affected areas by distributing food and non-food items such as food parcels, water filters, blankets, bed linens, hygiene parcels, and disinfectants. Local RC staff also helped to evacuate 20 people, organised shelter for 10 elderly people and 20 children, and helped 16 elderly people contact relatives living outside the disaster area.

The relief operation was originally planned to last for three months. After distributing humanitarian aid, the National Society continued to monitor the situation. It was realised that affected people in Crimea were still unprepared for winter, and the Ukrainian Red Cross decided to extend the operation to the end of December 2006 using the remaining funds.

For further information specifically related to this operation please contact:

Ukrainian Red Cross: Ivan Usichenko, President; phone +380 44 235 01 57; email: international@redcross.org.ua; Alla Khabarova, Executive Director; phone +380 44 235 03 34; email: international@redcross.org.ua.

Delegation for Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine: Drina Karahasanovic, Head of Delegation; phone +380 44 278 61 10; fax +380 44 234 50 82; email: drina.karahasanovic@ifrc.org; Valentina Sosnovaya, Disaster Management Officer; phone +375 17 221 7237; email: valentina.sosnovaya@ifrc.org

Geneva Secretariat: Sylvie Chevalley, Regional Officer; phone 41 22 730 43 24; fax 41 22 733 03 95; email: sylvie.chevalley@ifrc.org

All International Federation assistance seeks to adhere to the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's) in Disaster Relief and is committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (Sphere) in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable.

For longer-term programmes in this or other countries or regions, please refer to the Federation's Annual Appeal. For support to or for further information concerning Federation programmes or operations in this or other countries, or for national society profiles, please also access the Federation's website at http://www.ifrc.org