ETHIOPIA: Ethiopia relocated 16,000 people marooned by floods

Ethiopia has rescued thousands marooned by flash floods that have killed nearly 900 people this month, but tens of thousands remain homeless as more rivers burst their banks across the nation. State TV said on Sunday (August 20) that Ethiopia has relocated 16,000 residents stranded by devastating floods after heavy rains caused rivers to burst their banks. But officials fear the death toll could still rise rapidly as bad weather and poor access hamper relief efforts. The floods have hit large areas throughout the Horn of Africa nation, displacing some 48,000 people, according to UN estimates. "Thirteen thousand people, threatened by the rising waters of Lake Tana, have been relocated to safe areas," state media said, referring to a lake in the north. It said 3,000 more people from the south had been rescued where two rivers had spilled over. Ethiopia has warned that more rivers across the nation are overflowing, and its major dams are near to rupturing. Aid agencies say rains are likely to carry on until September and spread flooding to other areas. Aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres said last week that the number displaced by flooding near Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile River, could rise to 35,000 in the coming weeks. Special forces in helicopters descended from ropes to help stranded herders in the south where the Omo River brimmed over last week, killing 364 people and stranding thousands. State television said 1,000 people hit by the flooding of the Omo River had been evacuated to safe areas, while another 2,000 Ethiopians from Sodo town in the south had been saved as the Beltain River overflowed causing landslides. Flooding typically occurs in the lowlands after heavy rains in the June-September rainy season drench the highlands. FOREIGN AID

ITN Source | August 20, 2006

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