Ethiopia bracing itself for further floods – officials

Aug 18, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) —
Helicopter teams airlifted stranded survivors to safety and dropped inflatable tubes to people they could not immediately rescue, amid fears of more of the rains and flooding that have brought havoc and hundreds of deaths to northern, eastern and southern Ethiopia.

In all, 626 people have been confirmed dead in 13 days of torrential downpours _ 364 in the south, 256 in the east and six in the north. Police fear the figure could rise to 1,000 in the south. In the east, the United Nations said 300 people were still missing, most probably dead.

Survivors of the flooding spoke Friday of their anguish at having lost everything.

“The flood came at the midnight while we were sleeping,” said Telba Elgibacha, a father of four. “There are almost 300 people from this area who have died.”

At another village, 250 people were floating dead in a nearby lake, said Awala Rendele, who lost his daughter.

Weather experts warned of more heavy rains and the government urged thousands of Ethiopians living in flood prone areas to move to higher ground. But few possess radios or televisions, so many remain ignorant of the potential threat.

Medical officials warned a cholera epidemic is imminent. The disease is transmitted through contaminated water and is linked to poor hygiene and inadequate sanitation.

Already more than 110 people have died and 11,000 people have been infected with cholera-like symptoms following an outbreak in the last two months, which coincided with the start of Ethiopia’s rainy season, U.N officials told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the government has not yet made any official announcement.

The scale of the tragedy has stretched this impoverished nation’s emergency response capabilities.

“It is beyond our capacity,” regional president, Shiferaw Shigutie told the Associated Press. “We are asking the international community for humanitarian assistance in this latest disaster.”

Just three helicopters and 14 boats are being used in rescue efforts to reach some 6,000 people still trapped by flood waters in the south after four days.

With what little equipment they have, rescuers have managed to pluck more than 850 people to safety.

“Our rescue efforts will continue relentlessly,” Sisay Tadesse, spokesman for the government’s beleaguered disaster-relief agency, said. “We will not give up.”

Estimates for the flood damage run into millions of dollars.

“The impact of these floods will be felt long after the waters have subsided,” said Vincent Lelei, deputy head of the U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs. “We have yet to begin comprehending the scale of the damage of the floods. We are also concerned of further flooding because waters are still rising and more rain is expected.”

The rains, which usually fall between June and September, were some of the heaviest seen in a country that frequently suffers severe drought and where millions depend on food aid.

(AP/ST)