Death toll in Ethiopia's worst flooding hits 250

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Death toll in Ethiopia's worst flooding hits 250


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ADDIS ABABA (AFP) - The death toll from weekend Ethiopia floods that have devastated an eastern town rose to 250 as rescue efforts entered a fourth day, making it the worst flooding disaster ever in the impoverished Horn of Africa nation, the government and police said.
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With around 10,000 people still displaced, rescue officials said they had recovered 26 more bodies overnight pushing the previous day's toll to 250, and that the intensive search was continuing downstream.

"We recovered 26 bodies overnight and now the death toll has reached 250," Dire Dawa police inspector Beniam Fikru told AFP.

He added that the identification process was being hampered as many of the retrieved bodies were either mangled or already decomposed.

Officials said the search for around 300 missing villagers -- whose chance of surviving was slim -- was intensified Thursday and extended 60 kilometres (37 miles) downstream as many families reported that they had not recovered the bodies of their relatives.

"Our intensive search still going on," Beniam explained.

The meteorological department, meanwhile, said that they were putting out alerts for heavy downpours in the country's flood-prone areas to avoid a repeat disaster.

"With the support of the Ethiopian meteorology agency, we are alerting people, not only those in Dire Dawa, but all people living in the 19 flood-prone areas that the rain all over the country is increasing," said Sisay Taddesse, an official from the Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Office.

The weekend floods that swept through Dire Dawa township some 500 kilometres east of the capital Addis Ababa has also left about 10,000 others homeless and crammed in schools and government halls, according to aid officials.

The federal government and humanitarian teams scrambled to deliver food and non-food items to the desperate civilians, whose livelihoods were wrecked by the deadly floods, Information Minister Berhan Hailu told AFP by phone.

"The situation is now calm. The government is assisting people and as well, we are getting help from the public in terms of cash and labour," he added.

"We are trying to study at the flood area and design a lasting solution that would prevent such flooding in future," he added.

The massive flooding was triggered after intense sudden rains pounded the Dire Dawa region in the Ethiopian lowlands late Saturday, causing the Dire Dawa and Dechatu rivers to break their banks and sweep through the town and adjacent areas, where houses are often weak structures.

In addition, hundreds of livestock were swept away by the floods.

Federal authorities said they had deployed at least 300 soldiers to Dire Dawa to help clear debris and reinforce search and rescue teams, who scoured river beds and banks using heavy equipment and even garden tools in search of human remains.

Ethiopia, a nation of about 70 million people, has frequently been ravaged by natural calamities, notably famine-causing droughts.

In the past few years, flooding has affected large areas of eastern and southern Ethiopia, displacing tens of thousands of people and causing damage running into millions of dollars, particularly to agriculture.

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, forcing survivors to cling to trees to escape being eaten.

In neighbouring Kenya, flash floods have killed at least six people and displaced hundreds in the past three days, officials said. Hundreds of livestock have also been swept away

[LionHeart-112]

Allah has accepted the Du'a of the UIC.

[Xplosive]

^^Most of those who are dead happen to be Somali/oromo who are muslim ppl.

[LionHeart-112]

then the du'a of the Habashas has been accepted?

[Ceelgabo]

[quote="LionHeart-112"]Allah has accepted the Du'a of the UIC.[/quote]


That is horrible thing to wish on your neighbor or even on your worst enemy.

[LionHeart-112]

Oh please. Cut the crap. We all pray for our neighbors to drop dead everyday.

[dhuusa_deer]

[quote="LionHeart-112"]Oh please. Cut the crap. We all pray for our neighbors to drop dead everyday. [/quote]

speak for yourself doofus.