7 of 10 African plate roll in floods

[Andrey Eroshin]

05.09.12.

Algeria

Storms kill 20 people in Algeria

02.09.12. ALGIERS: Storms sweeping across northeast Algeria have killed 20 people and injured 56, the state news agency APS on Sunday cited emergency services as saying.

It said nine people died when torrential rain and high winds hit the regions of Tebessa 600 kilometres (360 miles) east of Algiers, Tlemcen (600 kilometres west of the capital) and M'sila (250 kilometres to its south).

Another person was killed by a lightning strike in the Blida region 50 kilometres south of Algiers, and 21 homes were also inundated.

The emergency services were called out in several areas to rescue people whose homes had flooded during the storms that raged for the past 48 hours over 22 of the country's 48 districts.

The bad weather, which also caused widespread material damage, comes after a heatwave sparked wildfires that ravaged nearly 21,000 hectares (51,870 acres) of land and woodland at the start of August, killing a fireman and a forest ranger.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Environment/2012/Sep-02/186458-sto...

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Turkey

2 die in flood in Van

05.09.12. Two people have died due to heavy rain in the eastern province of Van’s Özalp district. Many homes were flooded in the city’s Erciş district as roads became blocked with piles of debris.

Flooding occurred in Erciş after a hail storm began at 3 p.m. Sept. 2. Streets were beset by debris floating from Aktepe in the Soloha locality of the district.

Many homes were flooded after 30 minutes of heavy rain and hail. Floodwater also destroyed the headwaters that provide drinking water to the district.

Torrential downpour demolished some of the houses and barns in the Özalp district, while floodwater killed 25-year-old Ecevit Özbulak in Boğazkesen Village.

A search for the missing person is still underway, according to reports.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/2-die-in-flood-in-van.aspx?pageID=...

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Benin

Flooding kills 4, destroys crops

COTONOU, Sept 3, 2012 (AFP) - Heavy rains that flooded the Niger River along the northern border of the West African nation of Benin have killed at least four people and destroyed farmland, officials said on Monday.

News of casualties and flood damage in Benin came after authorities in neighbouring Niger announced last week that at least 52 people had been killed and nearly 400,000 displaced by flooding there since mid-July.

"Four people have already lost their lives following flooding in certain areas of northern Benin (Karimama and Malanville), along the border with Niger, due to strong rains which led to the overflowing of the Niger River," the interior ministry said in a statement.

Interior Minister Benoit Degla said a number of hectares of farmland had been destroyed and warned the situation could worsen.

West Africa often sees heavy flooding during the rainy season. In 2010, Benin recorded 43 deaths, with some 700,000 people affected.
http://humanitariannews.org/20120903/benin-flooding-kills-4-destroy...

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Nigeria

Flood Kills Five, Displaces 300

05.09.12. Minna — Director-General of Disaster Management Agency in Niger State, Alhaji Mohammed Shaba, yesterday, disclosed that flood resulting from heavy rainfall and water from Jebba and Shiroro dams have killed five people, while over 300 have been displaced.

He said 145 communities, across 10 local government councils in the state, were affected with a lot of farmlands submerged.

Shaba told newsmen in Minna that the affected local governments included: Mokwa, Lavun, Edati, Chanchaga, Shiroro, Borgu, Bida, Bosso, Munya and Wushishi.

He said Borgu had the highest number of affected communities with 51 of its villages and hamlets affected, while Bida had the lowest number of affected communities with only three communities affected.

He said the estimated total value of property lost in the flood was N500 million, adding that foodstuffs, especially rice, will be affected due to the flooding caused by excess rainfall, as most of the rice farmlands in the state were affected.

He said that N50 million was needed to cater for the people affected by the flood in the state, adding that the Internally-Displaced Camp set up by the agency to help accommodate those who were displaced by the flood had gulped over N2 million.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201209050379.html

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Malta

Storms on Mediterranean island of Malta kill 1

03.09.12. VALLETTA, Malta - Unusually fierce storms swept through Malta on Monday, killing one man and dropping more rain on the Mediterranean island in two hours than its normal monthly average for September.

The first storm triggered floods that swept away a man who had abandoned his car. Police said the man managed to make it to higher ground.

Another man working in a field was fatally struck by lightning, however, as a second storm battered Malta in the afternoon.

The storms caused substantial damage across the small Mediterranean archipelago, which includes the main island and sister islands of Gozo and Comino, with cars overturned, trees uprooted, houses flooded and walls collapsed.

Malta's meteorological office said 42.4 millimeters (1.67 inches) of rain fell, eclipsing the 40-millimeter average for the month of September.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Malta+fierce+storm+missing+hous...

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KENYA

Floods displace thousands, destroy crops

NAKURU, 5 September 2012 (IRIN) - Thousands of people have been displaced in parts of Kenya’s Rift Valley Province as floodwaters continue to submerge houses and schools and destroy crops.

They are among more than 240,000 people throughout eastern Africa are estimated to be affected by seasonal flooding.

An estimated 642 households have been affected by flooding in the Kenyan districts of Baringo and Marigat, with at least five schools being submerged, according to data from the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS).

The floods have caused latrines to overflow, contaminating water sources. “I have no better water to drink. I have to use what is readily available, even if I am aware of the risk of contracting diseases,” Lydiah Kuyale, a resident of Loropil Village in Marigat, told IRIN as she fetched flood water for domestic use.

Kuyale’s retail kiosk was among those inundated. But even as her family seeks refuge at a neighbour’s house, her main worry is her son’s education.

“If the classes remain submerged, how will my son get to school?” she asked. Her son is set to take the final primary school exam later this year.

Chicken farmer John Ledapana is also assessing his losses after most of his poultry were swept away by the floodwaters, leaving him with only six 3-week-old chicks.

Emergency measures

In Marigat District, two rivers that feed Lake Baringo have breached their banks, overflowing into neighbouring villages. Lake Baringo has extended its banks by up to 1.km, according to the KRCS, which warned that a further 290 families are at risk of displacement if the rains continue.

The agency recommended that the river beds be excavated to improve water retention in the rivers and that dams be constructed upstream to control the volume of water reaching the lake.

According to the KRCS, the affected families are in need of emergency food supplies after at least 26 hectares of maize - which had been ready for harvesting - were destroyed. Fodder, beans and water melon crops have also been ruined.

The delivery of relief items such as medicine, blankets, tents and mosquito nets has been hampered by poor road conditions.

Medical supplies and equipment have also been destroyed by floodwaters in some dispensaries, even as affected populations are threatened by waterborne diseases. “We can only go to the district hospital in Marigat, but it is hard to raise the 400 Kenya shillings (US$ 4.7) transport expenses,” said a resident.

During a recent visit to a medical camp hosted by KRCS in Ngambo Village, most of the sick children were found to be suffering from diarrhoea, upper respiratory tract infections and septic wounds.

“Adults have the same problems but at a lesser number than the children,” Evelyn Lorgisoi, a volunteer clinical officer, told IRIN.

Mudslides

In the neighbouring Baringo District, another 46 families are living in tents after being displaced by mudslides that struck the Sacho and Kabarnet areas. The mudslides killed two children, ages 12 and 15, and injured seven other people.

The displaced are now seeking refuge in the Kabasis, Kituro, Tartar and Timboiywa areas.

KRCS has identified 407 other families at risk of being affected by mudslides.

About 9 hectares of crops have been destroyed by the mudslides], and some roads have been rendered impassable, said Rift Valley Regional Disaster Management Officer Kennedy Mulama.

“Volunteers are also supporting communities through the dissemination of early warning systems for immediate evacuation of people on noticing signs of mudslides,” said Mulama.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96243/KENYA-Floods-displace-thousand...

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Cameroon

Flooding kills 14 in northern Cameroon, more than 2,000 displaced

31.08.12. DOUALA, Cameroon — The state-run Cameroon broadcasting reported Friday that at least 14 people are confirmed dead and over 22,000 other affected by flood waters in Cameroon’s Far-North and North Regions.

Prolonged rainfall combined with the release of water by the Lagdo hydroelectricity dam caused the Benoue River to burst its banks into nearby residential areas. Faro, Mayo Louti, Mayo Rey and Benoue were most hard-hit, with at least 14 people confirmed dead in the last two days. Crops of millet, sorghum and rice are either entirely or partially destroyed with food supplies becoming a serious problem. There are also fears that cholera and malaria could spread by the flood waters.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/flooding-kills-14-in-nor...

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Senegal

6 dead in weekend flooding in Senegal

27.08.12. DAKAR, Senegal — The Ministry of the Interior says that at least six people drowned this weekend, when torrential rains flooded the Senegalese capital of Dakar, as well as major cities in the interior.

Ministry spokesman Adjutant Mbaye Sady Diop said that the city's drainage system failed under the onslaught of water. The floodwaters inundated most of the capital's neighborhoods, including National Highway No. 1, which connects the capital to the rest of the country.

News portal Seneweb.com showed pictures of flooded mosques, and of women wading in hip-high water. On Monday, there was a bank of sand on many of the roads in Dakar, the residue of the receding liquid.

Senegal's seaside capital has faced flooding nearly every year. Especially hard-hit are its low-lying suburbs which were built on wetlands.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20120827/af-senegal-flooding/

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Gambia

Rainstorm Kills Man, As Floods Affect Over 758 People in LRR

31.08.12. A severe rainstorm accompanied by torrential rains that pounded a number of villages in the Lower River Region has claimed the life of a 50 year-old man, reports reaching the Daily Observer have disclosed.

Meanwhile, the resultant severe flooding has also affected over 758 people in 68 households in the region. Saidy Jallow of Dongro-ba village, Jarra East, died after a house collapsed on him, one of many properties damaged by the storm.

Elsewhere in the region, a 12-year-old girl, Sarata Saidykhan, and a 53-year old woman, Suta Saidykhan, both inhabitants of Kani Kunda village, sustained injuries after their house collapsed on them during the downpour. The regional disaster coordinator in LRR, Lamin Saidy confirmed that many people have been affected in the region.

He said the storm damaged public infrastructure, wells, toilets, and livestock in the region. "My office together with disaster authorities in the region conducted a rapid assessment to determine the level of destruction caused by the disaster," he stated, while using the opportunity to express his sympathy to the affected families. He was quick to assure them that his office will continue to provide the necessary support so as to ease the suffering.

Also speaking to the Daily Observer, the National Assembly member for Kiang Central Constituency, Honourable Bubacarr S. Fadera, said he lost many valuable materials during the disaster. Honourable Fadera seized the opportunity to appeal to donors to response to the emergency situation of the affected families in the region with a view to mitigate their sufferings.

The governor of the region, Lamin Darboe, for his part, described this year's rainy season as one with high level of rains. He urged communities in his region to avoid settling on waterways and log areas so as to reduce the impact of disasters. He thanked the Regional Disaster Committee for its quick response to the affected families, while calling on the donors to equally come to the aid of the affected people.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201209010381.html

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Sudan

Torrential Rains Leave Five People Dead in Gereida, South Darfur

23.08.12. Gereida — Five people died on Thursday August 23 in Gereida locality, South Darfur as a result of the heavy rains that hit the region. In addition, a number of farms flooded due to the ongoing rain.

A citizen from Gereida told Radio Dabanga that the valleys surrounding Gereida flooded due to the continuing rain that hit the region on Wednesday August 22, which left five people dead. The floods have isolated parts of Gereida town.

Citizens called upon government authorities to make small sand barriers to block the water as well as to dry it.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201208240082.html

[lonne rey]

Somalia: Flash Floods in Kill four, Hundreds Homeless

29 September 2012

The water level in the town reached 3 feet and destroyed hundreds of houses and completely submerged more villages in the southern parts of the city," a resident said.

 

Source

[Andrey Eroshin]

07.09.12. UGANDA: Floods displace 15,000 in north
http://irinnews.org/Report/96267/UGANDA-Floods-displace-15-000-in-n...

[Andrey Eroshin]

07.09.12. CHAD:The floods have caused at least 13 deaths, affected 445,725 people
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96261/CHAD-Floods-affect-tens-of-tho...

[Andrey Eroshin]

06.09.12. Heavy rains and flood kill 18 people in Burkina Faso
http://presstv.com/detail/2012/09/06/260163/flood-kills-18-people-i...