South Asia Flood Death Toll Rises to 4,000 as UN Seeks More Aid

By Michael Heath

Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- The death toll from monsoon floods in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan rose to more than 4,000 people and the humanitarian crisis could worsen without more aid, the United Nations said.

Floods in the June to September monsoon season ``disrupted the lives of more than 66 million -- a number larger than the population of France'' the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said yesterday in a statement.

Rains last month inundated areas that were starting to recover from flooding, stranding another 100,000 people in Bangladesh and leaving millions homeless in India, OCHA said. Northeast India was hit by three successive floods this year.

Stagnant waters are contributing to the outbreak of disease, the UN said. In Pakistan, more than 86,000 cases of malaria have been reported and 70,000 people are suffering from gastroenteritis, mainly from drinking contaminated water.

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88 Killed In India Flooding In September

September 30, 2007 10:02 a.m. EST

Preciosa Dumlao - AHN Writer

Kolkata, India (AHN) - Since the start of September, at least 88 people have died in rain-related accidents in eastern India, and tens of thousands have been stranded in government relief camps, reports said.

In recent days, rain-related accidents in the state of West Bengal have claimed 48 lives, a relief minister said Saturday.

"The death toll rose to 48 today with 19 more people dying of snake bites, electrocutions and wall collapses," Relief minister Mortaza Hossain was quoted as saying by Agency France Press.

"More than three million people have been displaced by the flooding in eight districts," he said.

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Almost 90 dead in fresh India monsoon rains

Sep 29, 2007

KOLKATA, India (AFP) — At least 88 people have died in rain-related accidents in eastern India since the start of September with tens of thousands stranded in state-run relief camps, officials said.

Rain-related accidents in the state of West Bengal have claimed 48 lives there in recent days, a minister told AFP.

"The death toll rose to 48 today with 19 more people dying of snake bites, electrocutions and wall collapses," said relief minister Mortaza Hossain on Saturday.

"More than three million people have been displaced by the flooding in eight districts."

Some 200,000 homes have also been destroyed, state officials said, but added that the situation was under control with boats rescuing people from roof-tops and houses.

The situation in eastern Orissa state was also grim with 40 dead this month, many in recent days, Manmohan Samal, minister for revenue and disaster management in the state, told AFP Friday.

The floods had cost the Orissa exchequer some 275 million dollars, the state government said, but no new deaths were reported from the state Saturday and rains appeared to be diminishing.

More than 3,100 people have been killed by rain and floods in India since the start of the June to September monsoons, the latest figures available from India's home ministry showed.

Rains hamper flood relief in Orissa
Friday September 28 2007 00:07 IST

PTI

BHUBANESWAR: Relief and rescue operations were affected in six flood-hit districts of Orissa as heavy rains lashed many areas on Thursday, compounding the plight of over 28 lakh people.

Fresh rains lashed parts of Kendrapara, Cuttack, and Khurda districts this morning making it difficult for relief officials and volunteers to reach far-flung areas, official sources said.

Relief material failed to reach many areas in Balasore, Bhadrak and Kendrapara districts due to inadequate deployment of boats and heavy rains, the sources said.

In a bid to prevent possible outbreak of water-borne diseases, the district administration has launched a vigorous drive to distribute halogen tablets and disinfect water sources in Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Cuttack and Khurda districts, the sources said.

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Situation grim in Jajpur dist
Wednesday September 26 2007 14:00 IST

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

JAJPUR: Even as the water level in Baitarani began receding on Tuesday afternoon, flood situation in Bari, Jajpur, Korei and Dasarathpur blocks in Jajpur district continues to be grim for the third consecutive day.

Although the river Baitarini was flowing at 18.60 metres against the red mark of 17.83 metres on Tuesday evening, it showed a downward trend since afternoon.

The rivers Brahmani and Kharasrota were still flowing above the danger mark. Official sources said over 2.5 lakh people in 196 villages under 58 GPs have been affected.

EPIDEMIC: Over 100 persons of the flood-affected villages have been reportedly affected by diarrhoea.

Aid appeal for flood-hit Africa as cholera looms

KAMPALA (AFP) — Aid agencies appealed for funds Friday to tackle floods that have swept across at least 18 African countries, killing close to 300 already and heightening the risks of disease outbreaks.

The torrential rains and floods that have ravaged sub-Saharan Africa from the Atlantic coast to the Indian Ocean are believed to be the worst in three decades and caused by the "La Nina" weather pattern.

An estimated 650,000 people from Ghana to Kenya were in dire need of humanitarian assistance and forecasters were predicting more rain in the days to come.

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For Ghana cocoa, main worry is disease not flood

Wed Sep 19, 2007 5:20pm BST

OSEIKOKOKROM, Ghana (Reuters) - Akwia Manu slips, slides and wades through mud and water to get to her cocoa farm.

The light rain falling in Ghana's main cocoa-growing region is far less destructive than the devastating floods which have washed away entire crops in the north, but it could still threaten the upcoming harvest with disease.

The trees on Manu's farm are covered in green and yellowing pods but also sprinkled with black ones -- a sign of the fungal infection black pod that thrives in rainy weather.

Farmers in the world's no. 2 cocoa grower fear the disease could take the shine off what could otherwise be an improved crop over last season's disappointing output.

"This September, there has been a lot of rain," said Manu, whose farm is in Oseikokrom in the Ashanti region, one of the former British colony's biggest cocoa-growing areas.

Manu expects to harvest five bags from her five acres in the main crop -- due to open in the coming weeks -- more than last year's harvest of three bags but less than she would have harvested if the sun had shone this month.

Massive floods in northern Ghana have driven more than 300,000 people from their homes, destroying buildings and washing away crops and livestock.

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Africa facing flood crisis

DAKAR (AFP) — Forecasters were predicting Tuesday further downpours in the coming days over much of Africa, where at least 270 people have already died from flooding and one million are affected.

"We anticipate that the situation will worsen," said Elizabeth Byrs from the UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), adding that heavy rains were forecast in west Africa between 18 and 24 September.

Torrential rain described as the worst in 30 years had resulted in floods stretching "from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea," Byrs said. Fears of outbreak of waterborne diseases have also been heightened.

Sudan was the worst hit of the countries in terms of confirmed deaths with 64 so far as a direct result of floods and 49 from cholera.

According to the country's health ministry, entire regions are exposed to outbreaks of malaria, cholera, meningitis and other waterborne diseases.

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Africa floods affect millions
17.9.2007. 08:36:09

Several of Africa's poorest countries are in dire need of assistance due to severe floods that have killed more than 200 people and affected a million.

The latest victims were reported in Rwanda, where officials from the northern region says floods killed 15 people and destroyed more than 500 homes since Wednesday.

In Sudan, the worst floods in living memory have left 64 people dead and displaced and affected several hundred thousand, mainly in the troubled south, according to the United Nations.

A cholera epidemic spread by floods has also killed at least 49 Sudanese in recent weeks, according to the World Health Organisation.

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Disease alert in flood-hit Africa / Flooding causes misery in several African countries / African floods submerge towns, wipe out farms and schools; 150 dead

Six largely overlapping stories from the past day that are related to, most recently, Friday's (updated to add the one from Al Jazeera):

From the BBC (newer)...

Severe flooding across Africa has wrecked hundreds of thousands of homes and left many people vulnerable to water-borne diseases, officials say.

Scores of people have died, and much of the continent's most-fertile farmland has been washed away, in what is being described as a humanitarian disaster.

The UN said [that] more rain was expected, and warned that the need for food, shelter, and medicine was urgent.

Some 17 countries have been affected in West, Central, and East Africa.

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Disease alert in flood-hit Africa

Severe flooding across Africa has wrecked hundreds of thousands of homes and left many people vulnerable to water-borne diseases, officials say.

Scores of people have died and much of the continent's most fertile farmland has been washed away in what is being described as a humanitarian disaster.

The UN said more rain was expected and warned that the need for food, shelter and medicine was urgent.

Some 17 countries have been affected in West, Central and East Africa.

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India: Floods DREF Bulletin no. MDRIN002 Update no. 02

The Federation’s mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. It is the world’s largest humanitarian organization and its millions of volunteers are active in 185 countries.

In Brief

Period covered by this update: 9 August to 9 September 2007.

History of this Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF)-funded operation:

- CHF 250,000 (USD 207,641 or EUR 151,515) allocated from the Federation’s DREF on 9 August 2007 to respond to the needs of this operation, and to replenish disaster preparedness stocks distributed to the affected population.

- This operation is expected to be implemented for three months, and will be completed by 9 November 2007; a DREF Bulletin Final Report will be made available three months after the end of the operation (by 8 February 2008). Unearmarked funds to repay DREF are encouraged.

Programme summary: To date, 2,577 people have lost their lives and an estimated 47 million people1 have been affected by the ongoing floods. New flooding was reported in Orissa in the second week of August, with 13 districts affected by riverine or flash floods. Flash floods in four districts have given rise to grave health risks including cholera, chikungunya and diarrhea.

The cholera outbreak in Orissa has been quite serious, with up to 83 people having lost their lives to the disease. The Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) dispatched a joint assessment team including Federation technical staff to assess the flood situation and health emergency in Orissa. The cholera outbreak was a result of tribes’ traditional practices concerning food and water, leading to contamination. IRCS has been actively distributing relief items since the start of the floods, providing for the daily needs of disaster hit families.

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Disease Outbreak Strikes Thousands in Flood-Hit East India

The increase of waterborne diseases after heavy rains caused by flooding and unsanitary conditions in eastern India has killed up to 250 people and left thousands seriously ill.

by Elias K.S., Christian Today India Correspondent

Posted: Thursday, September 6, 2007, 9:14 (BST)

BHUBANESWAR, India – The increase of waterborne diseases after heavy rains caused by flooding and unsanitary conditions in eastern India has killed up to 250 people and left thousands seriously ill.

"The death toll in the three cholera-hit districts of the state [of Orissa] – Rayagada, Koraput and Kalahandi – has gone up to 140," said Dr Usha Patnaik, the state’s director of health services, according to the Associated Press.

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Flood-borne disease hits nearly 1000 in east Sudan

Wed 5 Sep 2007, 16:50 GMT

KHARTOUM, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Nearly 1,000 people have had acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) spread by flood waters in eastern Sudan, and 58 of them have died, a World Health Organisation (WHO) official said on Wednesday.

"The total number of cases is now almost 1,000. Fifty-eight have died," the official, Ahmed al-Ganainy, told Reuters.

WHO, which has been working with Sudan's Health Ministry to stem the outbreak for over two months, said last month the epidemic was cholera, which is spread by a waterborne bacteria, causes severe watery diarrhoea and can lead to death within hours if not treated.

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Flood Exposure and Child Health in Bangladesh
Alison M. Buttenheim, UCLA

ABSTRACT:

In the summer of 1998, Bangladesh was inundated by significant flooding that covered two-thirds of the country and affected more than 30 million people. Although annual flooding is normal and expected in Bangladesh, the 1998 floods caused extraordinary devastation and were considered a “century” flood. Homestead flooding, crop loss, and infrastructure damage compromised household food security and increased disease prevalence in a population with already high rates of poverty and malnutrition.

Unfortunately, this type of scenario has become increasingly common around the world: a significant crisis—whether environmental, economic, or political—devastates a large population of densely-settled households who are already trapped in chronic poverty. How do households anticipate and respond to such crises in the context of ongoing livelihood struggles? Do shocks affect investments in human capital? More specifically, what happens to children in the wake of such shocks? In this paper I use longitudinal data from the post-flood period in rural Bangladesh to examine how children’s human capital, as measured by nutritional status, responds to severe flooding and its aftermath. I emphasize the importance of analyzing these responses in a dynamic context, linking exposure to shocks and nutritional outcomes to longer-term measures of household vulnerability and resilience.

I pose two related research questions. First, did flood exposure in 1998 cause marginal growth faltering in children? To isolate the effects of the flood and address the endogeneity of flood exposure, I use a difference-in-difference estimator and village fixed effects. I also exploit the fact that younger children are more vulnerable than older children to nutrition shocks. I next ask whether the effects of flooding on child growth faltering were mediated by household resources, hypothesizing that households with lower levels of pre-flood resources are less able to protect children from nutrition shocks.

These analysis help to answer several important policy questions related to crisis and recovery in vulnerable populations. The results reveal the extent to which children were nutritionally compromised by the flood, and which children fared worst. The analyses also contribute specifically to the design and implementation of livelihood interventions, and relief and recovery efforts. Can households use physical, financial and human capital to protect children’s nutritional status from significant shocks to income and food security? If so, is it more effective to focus on long-term asset-building strategies in vulnerable populations, or to facilitate asset recovery post-shock through access to credit and other forms of relief? Given the increasing exposure to shocks and the quantity of resources allocated post-disaster to relief and recovery, these questions are not trivial.

SUGGESTED CITATION:
Alison M. Buttenheim, "Flood Exposure and Child Health in Bangladesh" (November 1, 2006). California Center for Population Research. On-Line Working Paper Series. Paper CCPR-022-06.
http://repositories.cdlib.org/ccpr/olwp/CCPR-022-06

full paper

Health Dangers Increase in Flood-Stricken India; Reports of Malaria, Snake Bites on the Rise

29 Aug 2007 14:25:00 GMT

Source: Catholic Relief Services (CRS) - USA

Website: http://www.crs.org
August 29, 2007, New Delhi -- Catholic Relief Services (CRS) staff and partners in India are responding to an increase in water-borne illnesses in the state of Bihar on the Nepalese border, an area struggling to recover from the worst monsoon flooding in decades. Nurses in remote health centers are treating more cases of malaria, diarrhea and respiratory infections. Snake bites are also on the rise, and health workers will need larger supplies of anti-venom to prevent victims from dying. "Snake bites are not uncommon in the summer months, but the number of cases this year in Bihar is much higher due to the flooding," said Jennifer Poidatz, CRS India country representative. "With more heavy rain in the forecast, we're concerned the health risks here could get much worse."

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Over 2,200 dead in India: India Partners continues flood relief

Eugene, OR — Tuesday, August 28, 2007. According to the Government of India, 2,217 people have lost their lives in India to the southwest monsoon since June. And with heavy rainfall predicted for the rest of this week, the number is expected to rise.

Close to 3,200 people in South Asia have died as the heavy monsoon rains and floods have taken their toll. Rivers are overflowing, tens of thousands of villages have been washed out, and refugees have numbered in the tens of millions. The number of people affected will rise as floodwaters recede, and water-borne diseases continue to spread. Outbreaks of diarrhea and cholera have been confirmed.

In Bihar, the hardest hit state in India, almost 10,000 villages with a population of over 20 million have been affected in the state's worst flooding in 30 years. More than 530 medical teams and 7,000 boats have been deployed in the state to provide medical care to the survivors, according to government sources. Military helicopters have dropped thousands of food packets to those affected.

In the eastern state of Orissa, state health workers were working to contain an outbreak of cholera. "People in several low-lying areas – where roads were submerged and water gushed into houses- suffered enormous panic", wrote a local source in Cuttack, Orissa.

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Major rivers start receding
Friday August 24 2007 12:36 IST

JAJPUR: Even as the three rivers - Baitarani, Brahmani and Kharasrota - began receding since Wednesday night, the flood situation continued to be grim in the worst affected Bari block of Jajpur district on Thursday.

While Brahmani and Kharasrota were flowing just below the danger mark, Baitarani has receded. According to official sources, nearly 1.82 lakh people in 104 villages under 35 gram panchayats were marooned till Thursday evening.

Officially, 2.5 lakh people in 189 villages under 53 gram panchayats in Jajpur, Dasarathapur, Binjharpur, Korei, Dharmasala and Bari blocks of the district have been affected.

Meanwhile, vehicular movement on NH-5 to Jajpur Town and Bari- Kuakhia resumed though no communication has been established to Jajpur and Baruan yet. Four persons have died so far in the district.

EPIDEMIC FEAR: Over hundred persons including children from the flood-affected villages of the district have been affected by diarrhoea and other stomach-ailment diseases in the past few days.

At least 40 have been admitted to various hospitals across the district. Most cases have been reported from Sendhapur village under Sunduria gram panchayat and Golkund panchayat of Bari block in the district.

As many as 20 people have been admitted to Brahmabarada primary health centre in Maheswarpur. Sources said three children of Sendhapur and a woman of Golkund village have died of diarrhoea.

Snakes enter homes, increasing South Asia flood torment

Reuters
Friday, August 24, 2007; 5:12 AM

BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) - Hundreds of snakes, forced out of their pits by flood waters, have entered villagers' homes in eastern India creating panic and adding to the torment caused by monsoon flooding, officials said on Friday.

Around 1,850 people have been killed -- scores of them due to snake bites -- since July when swollen rivers burst their banks, inundating huge areas in eastern India and Bangladesh.

The others have been killed by drowning, diarrhea and in house collapses.

In India's impoverished state of Orissa, poisonous snakes like kraits and cobras slithered into homes across dozens of villages in Balasore district after nearby forest areas were inundated, forcing villagers to flee with their cattle.

"We might survive the floods but there are numerous snakes crawling all over the place," said Bijoy Pradhan, a villager who fled his home to dry land, on Friday.

Two children died from snake bites overnight in the area as close to a million people remained marooned across the state.

Authorities in Orissa said they were also battling an outbreak of diarrhea that has killed six children since Thursday.

Millions of people are living in miserable conditions across eastern India, drinking polluted water as taps and wells have been submerged by flood waters, officials said.

ENDLESS MISERY

In Bihar state, one of India's poorest and most badly governed areas, authorities found 19 more bodies since Thursday, pushing the death toll to 420 since floods started in mid-July.

Authorities used loudspeakers to order villagers to evacuate homes in Muzaffarpur district as swelling rivers breached mud embankments in many places.

Angry villagers in Samastipur district stopped a train, fearing its movement could damage a weak embankment along the track, and assaulted officials who tried to stop them, witnesses and officials said.

"We are very afraid of more floods," said Kalavati Devi, a flood victim, justifying stopping the train.

In neighboring West Bengal state, two children drowned as fresh flooding forced thousands of people into relief camps.

Across the border in Bangladesh, hundreds have died over the past few weeks due to massive flooding, with thousands of people suffering from diarrhea.

Monsoon flooding occurs in the region each year but this year's particularly heavy rainfall has led to some experts blaming climate change as one possible cause.

Health Ministry Recognizes Companies Helping Flood Victims

Recognizing groups that have already helped the flood-ravaged North, Seoul's Health and Welfare Ministry held a ceremony at the Gwacheon Government Complex on Thursday. The government recognized medical organizations including a multinational pharmaceutical firm that is financing first aid items for North Korean flood victims. Full Story