Search-and-rescue teams kept up frantic efforts on Friday to save thousands marooned by fatal flash floods in south-west Ethiopia where relief workers reported near-total devastation.
With poor weather continuing to hamper operations, officials said the death toll in the remote Omo River valley would rise above the current figure of 364, possibly sending the nationwide tally from recent flooding soaring.
Already, nearly 900 people in southern, eastern and northern Ethiopia have been reported dead or missing in the past two weeks, and between 5 000 and 8 000 people in 14 inundated villages in the south remain stranded, they said.
Helicopter pilots at a military base here in Arba Minch, about 500km south-west of Addis Ababa from where relief flights are taking off, said they have been able to rescue only a handful of stranded people.
”We were able to airlift about 400 people to higher ground yesterday [Thursday],” one pilot said on condition of anonymity. ”Our flight spotted another 1 000 or so people stranded, but we weren’t able to land.”
Where the pilot was able to land and speak to survivors, he said they spoke of horrendous suffering from the floods that washed away family members, livestock and homes when the Omo River burst its banks on Sunday.
”It is horrifying and heartbreaking,” he said. ”Their stories are pushing us to do more to rescue people at any cost.”
Air drops of food, clean water and blankets continued as uncertain currents from raging flood waters prevented both choppers and boats from reaching affected areas where officials said they feared outbreaks of disease.
”The people are in need of urgent help because there is an increased risk for malaria and other waterborne diseases,” said Atu Lema, the secretary general of southern branch of the Ethiopian Red Cross.
Overwhelmed regional authorities desperately sought outside help as United Nations agencies and private aid organisations pledged to assist in the south, as well as other areas hit by the flooding.
The flooding in the south came after rivers burst their banks in the east, where 256 people were killed last week and about 250 are still missing, and in the north, where at least six people have died.
A total of 876 people have either been killed or are unaccounted for with tens of thousands left homeless, according to official tallies.
”Floods with devastating impact have been reported countrywide in most regions and heavy rains are expected to cause further flooding,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.
The country’s National Meteorological Agency warned this week that six areas in the north, west and south of the country would likely be affected by unusually heavy seasonal rains before the end of the month. The rainy season lasts from June to September.
Ethiopia, home to about 70-million people, has repeatedly suffered heavy floods and droughts in recent years, ruining agriculture that provides livelihood for the majority in the Horn of Africa nation. — Sapa-AFP