Floods Update 20 Jan 1998
SOMALIA INTER-AGENCY FLOOD RESPONSE
- Weekly Report / 14.1.- 20.1.98 -
Number of people reported killed to
date: confirmed deaths: 2,112
Number of people remaining at risk: approximately 1 Million
Livestock reported killed so far: more
than 33,500 Food stocks destroyed: more than 60,000 hectares of crops
and farmland
destroyed. Famine Early Warning System (FEWS)/Somalia estimates losses
of Gu=12 crops in traditional underground granaries due to the floods and
rain water seepage at 31,100 tones. The upcoming harvest is estimated to
be reduced by at least 35,000 tones from the initial projection of 95,000
tones.
* General Situation: International organizations
continued to focus on the emerging health problems related to the flood
disaster. Well chlorination and social mobilization regarding cholera awareness
are under way. Additional supplies for malaria and diarrhea treatment were
distributed . Food aid continues. The situation remains very critical in
Bay and Bakool. People are reported to be without sufficient supplies and
in urgent need for assistance. Many villages and towns are still
isolated or under water, roads and markets not yet open. (Details under:
'Reports from the Field')
* Cholera: In Mogadishu, cholera
cases continued to increase. In the period between 27.12.97 and 11.1.98
a total of 1,277 cases of admission were reported by Benadir hospital alone,
63 people were reported by the hospital to have died in the same period.
Three cholera treatment centers have since been opened in Mogadishu run
by MSF Spain at Forlanini and ACF at the Fairground and in Medina. The
total number of cases in Forlanini as of 15 January was 147 with 11 deaths,
other data is not yet available. Cholera supplies, funded by ECHO, were
provided by WHO. - In Merca COSV reported a sharp increase in the number
of cholera cases. As of 9 January COSV reported 599 cases in Merca with
15 deaths. WHO says that cholera cases have also been reported in
all parts of Lower Shabelle but adds that these numbers include many cases
of non-cholera diarrhea. UNICEF and COSV started an intensive social mobilization
and chlorination campaign in all of Lower Shabelle. - A cholera outbreak
was also reported from Balad and Afgoi by the Federation of the Red Cross
and the Somali red Crescent. Data is presently awaited. WHO provided
extra supplies to IFRC for the outbreak.
* Rift Valley Fever: A Task Force
has been set up to combat the Rift Valley Fever in the region as cases
of suspected Rift Valley Fever have by now been reported from several countries
in East Africa. Four Rift Valley Fever experts (3 from the WHO Headquarter=12s
Division of Emerging Diseases and 1 from FAO) joint the Task Force which
will investigate the extent of the problem, strengthen a system for surveillance
and develop control strategies including animal vaccination. The total
number of deaths due to Rift Valley Fever in Somalia as of 15 January 1998
is 31 according to WHO.
* Boat Operation: Although water levels
are down in many areas, several NGO=12s on the ground still use boats for
the implementation of their programs. According to WFP, in the first month
of the operation alone, the boats ferried around 40,000 families from flooded
lands to higher lands and facilitated their movements across rivers to
get supplies. They transported around 520 mt of UNICEF/NGO emergency
food and around 360 mt of non food items such as emergency kits,
blankets, water tanks, plastic sheeting etc. wherever stranded villages
were identified. At present, the boats are concentrated along the Juba
river from Sakow down to Jamame with two boats left in Bardera.
I. Food Relief delivered up to 18.1.98:
(based on data provided by WFP)
>From the beginning of the operation
middle of November until 18. January 1998, the grand total of food distributed
in the flood affected areas within the Flood Operation in South Somalia
has been 4,865.12 mt . The food included maize, beans, sorghum, wheat and
vegetable oil and reached victims of the flood in Gedo (89,500 beneficiaries),
Bay (181,500 beneficiaries), Lower Shabelle (18,700 beneficiaries) , Middle
Juba (25,750 beneficiaries) and Lower Juba (42,640 beneficiaries) as well
as Hiran (39,000 beneficiaries) . In total it is estimated that 397,090
people benefited from the food distributions. The amount of food aid delivered
into flood affected areas could be increased during the week under review:
two Hercules C 130 planes (instead of one) were allocated to the airdrops
in Somalia, a third C 130 was being borrowed from the WFP Kenya operation
whenever possible. Airdrops continued for Belet Weyne, Jamame, Hagar, Jilib,
Afmadow, Bilis Qoqani, Hayo, Belet Karim and Marere. Increasingly food
aid could be delivered by road, although many roads remain in a bad
condition.
II. Reports from the Field:
Belet Weyne: Flood waters have receded
and the level of the Shabelle river continues to subside. A joint SCF/OXFAM
water and sanitation programme is underway, chlorination of wells in the
town is continuing as well as the spraying of the hospital on a daily basis.
The SCF agriculture team is carrying out an ongoing assessment of the seed
distribution (funded by UNOPS) which took place in mid-December. So far
there is hope that there will be a crop. - According to reports from
SCF and UNDP, the hospital in Belet Weyne is still dealing with a high
number of admissions, the most common illnesses being malaria, diarrhea
and (apparently wide spread in the area) tuberculosis. SCF says it
plans to distribute mosquito netting for villages along the river. 1,500
pieces of netting are awaited and will be made into family-size nets with
the involvement of women's group.
Jowhar: UNICEF reports that - by air
- the river Shabelle could be seen to have gone down considerable,
but that in dozens of places where it had broken its banks water continues
to pour out into the countryside and villages. The general health situation
is described to be deteriorating, kwashiorkor is reported in Bulo Fermo,
malaria, diarrheal diseases and respiratory infections wide spread.
Afmadow/Hagar: ARC reports that water
levels in Afmadow town are decreasing with some parts of land drying slowly.
In general, there is a lack of clean drinking water in the area, there
are no latrines, shallow wells have collapsed. chlorination of other wells
in use is continuing. According to ARC there are at present 1,635
displaced people from the surrounding areas of Afmadow town staying with
the town people. Malaria and diarrhea are wide spread, two adults were
reported to have died
during the last week of bloody diarrhea and one child under 5 of malaria.
(In total 57 deaths have been reported from Afmadow so far, mainly from
malaria and diarrhea). - In Bilis Qoqani one person died of diarrhea (total
so far 13 deaths). The water level is decreasing slowly. The number
of displaced families is 488. Malaria and diarrhea are reported to be on
the increase. - In Tabta water levels are decreasing, however, movement
is still difficult , with the exception of donkey carts. Malaria, dysentery
and diarrhea are wide spread. - ARC reports that around 470 displaced families
moved to Hagar over the weekend bringing the total number of displaced
families up to 1,500. Water levels are reported to decrease, however, many
roads remain impassable. Over the last week 12 people reportedly
died. Major diseases in the area are malaria and diarrhea. Cases of malnutrition
and cases of respiratory infections are increasing especially amongst the
displaced people according to ARC field staff. An educational awareness
campaign on health issues has started and the chlorination of water sources
as well as clean-ups are in progress.
Bay/Bakool: Famine Early Warning System
(FEWS)/Somalia has released a report on the food security and health situation
in Bay and Bakool based on information collected in late December 1997.
All information gathered indicates that these two regions have experienced
unprecedented hardship during the last months. FEWS reports that in Bay
and Bakool the intensity of the rains was so high that farmers had no time
to save cereals in their under-ground granaries. The latest reports coming
in from almost all districts of Bay region estimate that about 60-70 percent
of the under-ground granaries were flooded and therefore lost. More
than 80 percent of the standing crops were washed away by the run-off water.
All low-lying agricultural areas became pools. A huge number of livestock
drowned or got stuck in the mud. Other animals
suffered hoof-rot and were unable to go grazing. - Many villages
and towns are still isolated or under water. Even though food has been
brought in, FEWS reports that there is an urgent need of more relief food
for many isolated areas. In Bardale people are reported to still live on
the roads because their houses are underwater. The food security situation
seems particularly bad in Bakool, however land mines and heavy rains have
virtually cut-off Bakool region from the neighbouring regions of Bay and
Hiran, making field assessments and the delivery of supplies very hazardous.
- Reports from IMC on the nutrition and health situation of Bay are equally
alarming. The same seems to apply for Bakool according to elders and travellers
from the region. Malaria is said to be the main disease killing people.
An IMC doctor described in the report how he and his colleagues were forced
to wrap up plastic bags on their feet while visiting patients, because
of the excessive biting of mosquitoes. Malnutrition is reportedly wide
spread.
END REPORT.
[The material contained in this communication
comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not
necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. UN
IRIN Tel: +254 2 622123 Fax: +254 2 622129 e-mail: irin@dha.unon.org for
more information. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item,
please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should
include attribution to the original sources. Many humanitarian reports
are archived on the http://www.reliefweb.int/emergencweb.int/emergenc>http://www.reliefweb.int/emergenc
. Mailing list: un-somalia]