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Mongolia: Cold wave 2018 Emergency Plan of Action (EPoA) DREF n° MDRMN007

Countries
Mongolia
Sources
IFRC
Publication date
Origin
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A. Situation analysis

Description of the disaster

Mongolia has suffered from severe winter conditions known as Dzud since the last two winters. The extremely harsh winter that continued after the drought in summer has depleted the herders’ reserves of hay and fodder. Continuous harsh conditions have put at risk millions of livestock, which are the only source of food, transport and income for almost half of the Mongolian population. As herders experienced two consecutive droughts throughout the country followed by severe winters, it did not allow herders enough recovery time to be prepared for this winter.

In the current situation, according to a statement by Brigadier General Ariunbuyan, First Deputy Head of NEMA in a meeting on 31 January 2018, about 70 per cent of the country is covered in 10-45 cm deep snow with density from 0.12-0.36 gr/cm3 . Out of 330 soums in 21 provinces, 143 soums in 20 provinces and one city are experiencing extreme winter situation and are now in Dzud condition.
In January, temperatures dropped to between -30 to -46.5 degrees Celsius below freezing point during the nights. These conditions are anticipated to persist for the whole month of February 2018. Therefore, NEMA is disseminating warning messages on possible extreme winter to herders and mobilizing local resources such as hay and fodder to provinces that maybe badly affected and are at high risk.
Weather forecast information released from the Information and Research Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment stated that throughout Mongolia, most areas experienced extreme cold weather which was above annual average by -1.1 to -15.6 degrees Celsius.