Afghanistan: floods kills 127 in north

28.04.14.

(Reuters) – More than 100 people have been killed and thousands left homeless by flash floods in north and west Afghanistan, officials said on Friday, prompting desperate pleas for help from the impoverished provincial authorities.

Thousands of homes have been engulfed by flood waters in four provinces after three days of heavy rain in what is traditionally a wet period at the start of spring.

In the northern province of Jawzjan, police chief Faqer Mohammad Jawzjani said 55 bodies had been recovered, and that the number of dead would increase over the coming days.

“Providing aid or help from the ground is impossible,” he told Reuters. “We have carried 1,500 people to safe areas of neighboring districts by helicopter. We need emergency assistance from the central government and aid agencies.”

The governor of neighboring Faryab province said 33 people had died there and another 80 were missing.

“Ten thousand families have been affected and more than 2,000 houses have been destroyed,” Mohammadullah Batazhn said.

Another 13 people were killed in the provinces of Badghis and Sar-e Pol, local officials said.

(Reporting by Folad Hamdard in Kunduz, Mirwais Harooni in Kabul; Writing by Jeremy Laurence; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/25/us-afghanistan-flood-idUSBREA3O1LA20140425

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Flash floods devastate four provinces in northern Afghanistan.

At least 127 people died and hundreds of villagers were displaced after flash floods ravaged northern Afghanistan, disaster authorities said Sunday.

The deputy governor of Afghanistan’s northern Jowzjan province told Anadolu Agency that as a result of the flood at least 66 people had died, 36 are missing and another 15,000 had been displaced.

Initial reports indicate that Jowzjan is the worst affected province in the region.

Sar-e Pol Governor Abduljabbar Hakhbin said the death toll in the province rose to 20, and 30 others were reported missing.

The governor of the Faryab province, Mohammadollah Betash, said 33 people had died there, more than 8,000 people had been displaced and many were reported missing.

The number of dead in the Baghdis reached eight, according to Hamidollah Mobariz Hamidi, a disaster authority.

Heavy rainfall has also caused widespread damage to homes and agriculture since late Thursday.

The affected Afghan populations are in need of clean drinking water, medical supplies, food, and emergency shelter, the U.N. humanitarian affairs agency said.

http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/166155/afghanistan-floods-death-toll-rises-to-127.html

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27157042