Medical and Hospital News
SHAKE AND BLOW
Flash floods kill 50 in western Afghanistan
Flash floods kill 50 in western Afghanistan
By Abdullah Hasrat, with Mohsen Karimi in Herat
Kabul (AFP) May 18, 2024

Flash flooding has killed at least 50 people in western Afghanistan, provincial police said Saturday, with some residents reaching safety on higher ground mere minutes before the water hit.

The floods on Friday also destroyed about 2,000 houses, and damaged thousands more homes and businesses, Ghor police spokesman Abdul Rahman Badri said in a statement.

The fresh flooding in the country -- which has experienced above-average rainfall this spring -- comes after flash floods on May 10 in northern Baghlan province washed away hundreds. Survivors there were still searching for missing relatives days after the disaster.

"Fifty residents of Ghor province were killed by the floods on Friday and a number of others are missing," Badri said.

"These terrible floods have also killed thousands of cattle... They have destroyed hundreds of hectares of agricultural land, hundreds of bridges and culverts, and destroyed thousands of trees."

A resident of Firozkoh district in Ghor told AFP he and his family raced to higher ground when they were alerted by the sound of aerial firing and urgent warnings over mosque loudspeakers of oncoming flash floods.

"Within five minutes of our escape, a huge and horrible flash flood came and washed away everything. I watched the flood destroy my house with my own eyes," Zahir Zahid told AFP over the phone.

"Women and children, everyone was crying," he said.

"In our area, around a hundred houses have been washed away by the flood, nothing is left, the flood has taken everything away."

Ghor resident Sherzai also lost everything in the deluge.

Some flooding is common in the area in springtime, but he was shocked by the force of this one.

"We thought that it would be like the ones in the past, we thought that if a flood came, it wouldn't be major, but it was very strong," he said.

"It took away everything in our house, nothing is left."

Obaidullah Muradian, the head of the province's disaster management department, said it was an "emergency situation".

The floods hit several districts in the province, including the capital Chaghcharan, where the streets "are full of mud", he said, adding that victims needed shelter, food and water.

"The situation is really concerning."

- 'Exceptionally vulnerable' -

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) and Taliban officials said more than 300 people died as a result of the flood disaster earlier this month, which left homes and roads coated in thick mud.

The destruction of roads and bridges hampered rescue efforts, with United Nations agencies and Taliban authorities warning the death tolls would rise.

Afghanistan, which is "exceptionally vulnerable to flooding", has seen above-average rainfall this spring, Mohammad Assem Mayar, a water resource management expert, said in a recent Afghanistan Analysts Network report.

From mid-April to early May, flash flooding and other floods had left about 100 people dead in 10 of Afghanistan's provinces, authorities said.

Farmland has been swamped in a country where 80 percent of the more than 40 million people depend on agriculture to survive.

The rains come after a prolonged drought in Afghanistan, which is one of the least prepared nations to tackle climate change impacts, according to experts.

The country, ravaged by four decades of war, is also one of the world's poorest.

The WFP warned that the recent floods have compounded an already dire humanitarian situation.

The UN special rapporteur for human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, said on social media platform X that support beyond emergency response was needed to get survivors back on their feet.

"I urge donors to provide more funds for humanitarian support but also much needed #ClimateAction to leave no one behind in Afghanistan," he said.

str-sw/ecl/tym

X

Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
SHAKE AND BLOW
Indonesia floods kill 67 as rescuers race to find missing
Tanah Datar, Indonesia (AFP) May 15, 2024
Indonesian rescuers raced Wednesday to find dozens of people still unaccounted for after heavy rains caused flash floods and washed volcanic debris into residential areas over the weekend, sweeping away houses and leaving 67 people dead. Hours of torrential rain on Saturday caused mud and rocks to flow into districts near one of Indonesia's most active volcanos, destroying dozens of houses and damaging roads and mosques. "Some of the missing ones have been found. According to the police identifi ... read more

SHAKE AND BLOW
US military sees 500 tons of aid soon into Gaza via pier

Israel PM says no humanitarian crisis as hundreds of thousands flee Rafah

EU urges Big Tech to be 'vigilant' after Slovak PM shooting

Senegal navy intercepts over 550 migrants in May

SHAKE AND BLOW
China Encourages BeiDou System Integration in Electric Bicycles

Estonia summons Russian envoy over GPS jamming

OneNav introduces new L5-direct GNSS receiver in response to increased GPS jamming

Galileo satellite constellation expands with two new additions

SHAKE AND BLOW
A fragment of human brain, mapped

Early infant vision shaped by high-contrast visual inputs

AI Ethics in the Digital Afterlife: Safeguards Needed to Avoid Unwanted AI "Hauntings"

Amazonian chief at UN to combat traditional knowledge piracy

SHAKE AND BLOW
Researchers delve into the brain's translation of sounds into actions

How the brain is flexible enough for a complex world without going crazy

Aging clocks offer insights into biological versus chronological age differences

Illegal wildlife trafficking persistently pervasive: UN

SHAKE AND BLOW
Hotter, drier, sicker? How a changing planet drives disease

Latin America, Caribbean set for record dengue season

US conspiracy theorists monetize 'Disease X' misinformation

SHAKE AND BLOW
Hong Kong demands online platforms remove banned protest song

China hospital attack leaves two dead, 21 wounded

Australia's former top diplomat to sue N. Zealand FM over China barb

Xi, Macron to discuss Ukraine during China leader's visit

SHAKE AND BLOW
Jordan says foils foreign state-backed arms smuggling

Colombian rebels holding Amazon hostage in peace talks

Hong Kong customs makes largest-ever gold smuggling bust

Indian navy says intercepted hijacked vessel near Somalia

SHAKE AND BLOW
Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.