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Updated Aug 8 2006 10:24 AM EDT

10,000 homeless in flood-hit eastern town

ADDIS ABABA, 8 August (IRIN) - At least 10,000 people have lost their homes in the eastern Ethiopian city of Dire Dawa after a flash flood hit the area, killing hundreds, officials said on Tuesday.

"The city administration has so far registered more than 10,000 [homeless people]," said Getachew Asres, Dire Dawa city administration police commander. "They are temporarily sheltered in schools and tents and getting food and other necessary support."

More than 300 people are still unaccounted for after 197 bodies were recovered. The search for more bodies was continuing on Tuesday. "Most of the homeless people lost their houses and family members to the flood," Getachew added.

The Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi visited the area on Monday and said the government would send more emergency food assistance and shelter to those who were made homeless.

Heavy rains in Dire Dawa, 525 km east of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, caused the Dechatu river to burst its banks, prompting flood waters to hit the country's second-largest city. Many of the dead, including 40 children, drowned because they were sleeping. The city was also dark because the electricity supply was off.

The police warned that the risk of flooding was still high because heavy rains were falling in the highland areas outside the city.

Meanwhile, another flood induced by heavy rainfall in the Kombolcha district of East Harrarghe zone, 400 km east of Addis Ababa, has destroyed more than 100 homes, the police said. The four-hour downpour that occurred on Monday night displaced 500 people.

The rainfall caused a landslide in Jarso Woreda, blocking the road that connects the zone with Harar town and Kombolcha, said Seyoum Degefu, the zonal police spokesman.

Flooding in southern and eastern Ethiopia is a frequent occurrence, and according to weather experts, occurs due to unseasonal heavy rains in the highlands that flow into the lowland areas.

Source

IRIN

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Updated Aug 7 2006 5:00 PM EDT

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, second from right, and other politicians and disaster-relief officials surveying one of the worst-affected sites in Dire Dawa - about 500 km east of the capital, Addis Ababa - after a flood struck early Sunday morning. The flood killed more than 200 people, with the death toll still rising. Officials report that more than 300 people are missing or unaccounted for in the disaster. (AP Photo/Les Neuhaus)

An overturned truck, Monday, Aug. 7, 2006, tossed by massive flooding in the far eastern Ethiopian city of Dire Dawa., A flash flood swept through the city early Sunday morning and is blamed for more than 200 deaths, with the toll expected to climb as recovery continues. Officials also report more than 300 unaccounted for, or missing persons.(AP Photo/ Les Neuhaus ).

Updated Aug 7 2006 10:00 AM EDT

Ethiopia flood toll hits 206 as rescuers search for hundreds missing

By Abraham Fisseha

DIRE DAWA, Ethiopia (AFP)

Rescuers have clawed through mud and debris with their hands, garden tools and heavy equipment in eastern Ethiopia, searching for hundreds of people missing after lethal flash floods.

While relatives began identifying victims of the weekend flooding in and around the provincial town of Dire Dawa, officials said 206 bodies had been recovered but the toll was expected to climb as 300 people were still unaccounted for.

"We have been able to recover 206 bodies and we have also rescued 96 injured people," said an official with Ethiopia's federal Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission on Monday.

"The search and rescue efforts are still going on but we expect the death toll to rise," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity after flying into Dire Dawa with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to inspect the damage.

"It is a sad day to all of us," Meles said in the town of some 400,000, about 500 kilometers (300 miles) east of Addis Ababa. "We have lost our brothers and sisters."

He added: "The Ethiopian government will do everything in its power to bring normal life back to the people of Dire Dawa and to give all needed support to those affected by the disaster."

But his consoling words appeared to have little impact on survivors who wandered the devastated streets, weeping and moaning, many unable to comprehend how the now-receded raging waters caused so much damage.

"I lost my husband and my child, my life is now nothing," said 32-year-old Bezunesh Abegaz. "I don't see any hope or future for me."

"I saw them die in a terrible way, but at least I can draw comfort from having recovered and buried them," she told AFP. "Now, I'm sorry for my neighbours who have not yet found the bodies of their loved ones."

At least 39 of the confirmed dead are children under the age of seven, according to police who said many of the casualties were women, children and the elderly who were sleeping and unable to escape when the floods hit.

Residents said they were using their bare hands, hoes, trowels, shovels as well as bulldozers and other earth-moving equipment to dig through sand, mud and rubble in search of bodies or people still alive.

Aid workers said some 10,000 people had been left homeless by the waters from the swollen Dechatu and Dire Dawa rivers which broke their banks, sweeping through the town and nearby villages, killing many while they slept.

The floods in the Addis Ketema, Genfele, Coca Cola and Aftessa districts caused massive property damage, destroying hundreds of homes, trading stalls and cutting a key road linking the town to Addis Ababa, they said.

In addition, the waters brought down electricity and telephone lines, further complicating rescue efforts in an area in Ethiopia's lowlands that is prone to flooding during the June-to-September rainy season, they said.

Last year, at least 200 people were killed and more than 260,000 displaced when heavy rains pounded the region, flooding rivers that quickly attracted large numbers of crocodiles and forced survivors to cling to trees to escape.

Over the last several years, flooding has affected large areas of eastern and southern Ethiopia, displacing tens of thousands of people and causing damage worth millions of dollars, particularly to agriculture.

The floods follow a devastating drought that hit the east Africa region, threatening the lives of about 15 million people in five countries, including Ethiopia and neighboring Somalia and Kenya.

Ethiopia, a nation of about 70 million people, has repeatedly been ravaged by natural calamities, notably drought and famine.

Source:

AFP

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Related Articles

Scores killed in Ethiopia floods
BBC News
Sunday, 6 August 2006

Almost 200 people are reported to have died after a river burst its banks and floodwaters swept through the city of Dire Dawa in eastern Ethiopia.

The local police commissioner said 39 of the dead were young children.

Officials said hundreds of homes were destroyed when the Dechatu river overflowed on Saturday night.

Over the past two years flooding has afflicted large areas of eastern and southern Ethiopia, killing hundreds and displacing hundreds of thousands.

'Washed away'

A heavy downpour hit Dire Dawa city, some 500km east of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, in the early hours of Saturday, residents told news agency AFP.

"My home is situated a bit far from the river, I was in bed when I heard people shouting," said 45-year-old Abaye Baheru.

"I opened the door, and the water burst in, forcing me to escape to the rooftop from where police rescued me, but my house and property were destroyed.

"While on the rooftop, I saw men, women and children being washed away, while crying for help," Mr Abaye said.

The floods also swept away vehicles and livestock, and destroyed markets and shops, witnesses said.

Thousands of Dire Dawa's estimated 250,000 residents have been displaced by the flooding.

"The death toll from the flood caused by the overflow in Dire Dawa reached 191 by 8.30 pm (1730 GMT)," regional Dire Dawa Police Commissioner Getachew Asres said.

He said 39 of the dead were children aged under seven years.

Flooding often hits low-lying parts of Ethiopia during the June-to-September rainy season.

Last year at least 200 people were killed - some by crocodiles in the floodwaters - when heavy rains pounded the same region.

The flooding also caused millions of dollars worth of damage, particularly to small farmers.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/5250386.stm

Also

File Photo: A herder tries to cross a flooded area in Ethiopia with his donkey, in 2005. Flash floods have killed more than 191 people in eastern Ethiopia, sweeping away many of the victims in their sleep, after a heavy downpour caused a river to overflow, police said.(AFP/File/Lea-Lisa Westerhoff)

Ethiopia floods kill at least 129

From correspondents in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

August 07, 2006 12:00
Article from: Agence France-Presse

AT least 129 people were killed in flash floods in eastern Ethiopia after an intense, sudden downpour pounded the region, sweeping away many of the victims in their sleep, police said.

"So far 129 people are confirmed dead. We are still looking for more on the outskirts of the city and all along the river from the north to south," said Inspector Beniam Fikru, a top police official in Dire Dawa region, about 500km east of the capital Addis Ababa.

Aid workers and residents, who scoured for the survivors and bodies, said several thousands of civilians were displaced and others reported missing.

"We have between 2000 and 3000 people displaced. With the ICRC (International Committee for Red Cross) and other government organisations, we are trying to facilitate shelters and other support as the search for more bodies and survivors goes on," said Kasahun Debelie, a local Red Cross official.

Residents said the casualties of the floods, which are as a result of the June-to-September rainy season, were mainly women and children, many of whom were swept away while asleep in poorly constructed shacks along the river bank in the poverty ravaged region.

The heavy downpour pummelled the area for more than an hour and a half, causing the River Dire Dawa that passes through the town to burst its banks and flood in the region.

Last year, at least 200 people were killed and more than 260,000 displaced when heavy rains pounded the same region, which lies close to Ethiopia's Somali state.

In those floods, swarms of crocodiles devoured villagers, while others clung on to trees in a desperate attempt to avoid being eaten.

The floods follow a devastating drought that hit the east African region, threatening the lives of about 15 million people.

Ethiopia, a nation of about 70 million people, has repeatedly been ravaged by natural calamities, notably drought and famine.

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