Devastating Floods
update: no food or medicine for three days:
(ap) SANA, Yemen - Flooding caused by a tropical storm has killed 90 people and displaced 20,000 others in southern Yemen, police and the World Food Program said Monday.
The WFP, which said 20,000 people were displaced, said it has been difficult to get aid to hard-hit Hadramut province because many roads were destroyed by floodwaters after Thursday’s storm.
A police official said 90 people died and 24 farms were wrecked. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh called on Yemenis and non-governmental organizations to help flood victims by donating money and other aid.
“Efforts are too slow,” said Akeel Al-Ataf of Hadramut province’s municipal government. “We haven’t seen any food or medicine in three days, and the relief efforts are chaotic.”
SANA’A, Oct. 26 — 58 have been killed, dozens of citizens are missing and over 20,000 people are homeless due to flash floods that resulted from heavy rains in the eastern areas of Yemen including Hadramout and Al-Maharah.
In a report by Minister of Interior Mutahhar Rashad Al-Masri, the death toll from the floods in Hadramout and Al-Maharah governorates was estimated at 58 and rescue teams had been able to shelter 3,000 people whose houses were destroyed.
The Ministry of Defense declared in its latest statistics published in its electronic “September mobile” service that 1,700 houses and public buildings had collapsed and that power lines, telephone wires, roads and bridges had been cut due to floods in many areas of the two governorates.
In Al-Maharah governorate, 1,318 kilometers east of Sana’a, floods caused more than 45 fishing boats to sink, an Indian ship to break down and a cut in telecommunications in the districts of Hawf, Qishin, Shahin and Saihut due to damage to optical fiber cables and the destruction of mobile phone coverage towers.
In Hadramout governorate, located some 794 kilometers east of Sana’a, eyewitnesses said that floods are threatening the historical town of Shibam, a UNESCO world heritage site, after heavy rains resulted in the collapse of archeological buildings and had eradicated features of other historical ones.
Salem Al-Khanbashi, governor of Hadramout, said in a statement to the state-run Saba News Agency that the executive authority in Hadramout had received field notifications which indicate that a number of dead bodies are floating in the flood water.
The rescue and emergency committee formed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh last Friday has declared the governorates of Hadramout and Al-Maharah devastated areas “due to the major damage that befell them.”
Hasan Al-Lawzi, Minister of Information and member of the emergency committee, told Al-Siyassiya newspaper that the committee is currently surveying human and material damage and said that “flash floods resulting from heavy rain [had] caused huge damage to roads and bridges and cut electricity and telecommunication cables in addition to the human damage.”
Yemen Observer
Tens of people missing
Preliminary estimates from the floods in Hadramout and al-Maharah put the death toll at 58 with 40 others still missing. Seventeen hundred houses were damaged, and five thousand people have been displaced in the last three days.
The total cost of the damage is estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
The government has declared Hadramout and al-Maharah disaster areas, and an emergency committee formed by the President claims they have been providing immediate relief to vulnerable people. The al-Saleh Foundation announced they were distributing emergency aid to the regions worst hit and the Hail Saeed group have contributed 200$ million to the government’s relief efforts, alongside businessman Tawfiq Abdurahim who has donated YR 100 million.
The UAE said they would supply urgent aid to people in the disaster area, whilst the Mohammed Bin Rashid Corporation announced they would begin an air bridge to the disaster area in Eastern Yemen to enable them to start distributing aid.
Two thousand families in Tarim, and another 1500 in al-Qatan were being housed in schools. Five hundred houses were destroyed in Wadi Hadramout as a result of the floods, which destroyed all infrastructures in the area. Rescue operations are currently underway by both ground forces and helicopters.
Official sources said rescue teams used boats to save 25 people stranded in a commuter bus for 30 hours in Haswin area, and another seven people who were surrounded by water in a car at the rural development office. A government driver from the Ministry of Education died, while 4 of his companions were rescued.
President Saleh said the state will live up to its responsibility in dealing with the disaster in three stages. The first stage will constitute the rescue of those stranded by the flood, the second will be the provision of necessary relief and the third will be rebuilding what was damaged by the floods.
The Ministry of Health declared it was establishing an emergency operations room in the area. Dr. Majid al-Junaid, the Deputy Minister for the primary care sector said the ministry has taken urgent measures to deal with damage in the disaster areas.
Al-Junaid announced the ministry has sent 144 cartons of medicine, in addition to other medical supplies, adding that the Ministry of Health had formed a committee and special emergency room‬ for follow up. He added the committee is now preparing a comprehensive health plan to face the disaster and its aftermath.
Al-Junaid added the ministry has formed a field team to tour affected governorates to assess the situation, and report the needs of emergency relief teams to aid the ministry in carrying out necessary relief measures. He said the emergency room received a preliminary list of needed medicines and appliances, which will be provided as quickly as possible.
Junaid said several international health organizations specializing in working in disaster areas were approached, including ‬the WHO, Doctors without Borders, the Dutch embassy, IRCC, and UNICEF.
He said the ministry has ordered their health offices in affected governorates to form emergency rooms, and to ensure they are ready for emergency situations.
According to Junaid, the ministry’s Malaria Program will conduct a spray campaign to kill mosquitoes in affected areas.
Five planes carrying urgent relief materials including food, blankets and medicines have already landed in Wadi Hadramout and other relief planes will land this afternoon carrying tons of necessary relief materials. A correspondent said helicopters are continuing their rescue operations to provide relief to about eight thousand people stranded in the Bair Hiban area in Wadi Hadramout.
