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Number of people affected by floods in Afghanistan exceeds 140,000

Countries
Afghanistan
Sources
OCHA
Publication date

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Heavy rains over the past six weeks in northern Afghanistan have triggered flash floods affecting over 140,000 people.

  • New flash flood in Guzargah-e-nur r district in Baghlan province.

  • Shelter cluster identified over 8,000 houses totally destroyed, $2.4 million ERF funding is being made available for shelter reconstruction

  • ERF monitored a project supporting 2013 drought affected communities in remote northern district of Sang-e-Takht in Ghor

Number of people affected by floods in Afghanistan exceeds 140,000

Heavy rains over the past six weeks in the northern Afghanistan have triggered flash floods in 27 provinces in 132 districts, killing 175 people, affecting over 140,000 people and damaging or destroying over 16,000 homes. The greatest damage was in Jawzjan, Sari Pul, Faryab, Balkh, Baghlan, Badakhshan, Takhar, and Samangan provinces, where 90% of all the flood-affected people live.

A wave of new floods has hit the country again in the past couple of weeks in different provinces, notably in Baghlan province (see page 2), killing at least 74 people and destroying hundreds of houses, as well as killing livestock, washing away agriculture land and breaking roads and bridges.

Coordinated humanitarian response has been taking place, through the national disaster management council and provincial disaster management councils. Needs assessments and relief distributions have been completed in most districts. There are sufficient relief stocks remaining in the country for the continuing response.

Some access challenges have delayed response in a number of the districts, particularly in Faryab, Jawzjan, Sari Pul and Samangan, due to insecurity. The main highway linking Kabul to Mazar was temporarily cut, due to a 50 meter section being washed away in the Tangi area of Khulm district in Balkh province. This briefly cut off Faryab, Sari Pul, Jawzjan and Mazar in western Balkh from the capital.

The key focus as flood waters eventually recede is on the timely rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged and destroyed homes, infrastructure and agricultural land. The inclusion of disaster risk reduction measures will be important, as many districts have been flooded annually in past years, particularly in Sari Pul and Jawzjan.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.