Africa - Two-thirds of Benin under water - 846 cases of cholera reported

[Gert van der Hoek]

Half of Benin affected by devastating floods - CARE launches US$1 million appeal, distributes emergency supplies

Source: CARE

Date: 12 Oct 2010

Geneva, Switzerland (Oct. 12, 2010) – CARE has launched an emergency response to help families suffering through the devastating flooding that has affected nearly half the communes of Benin. According to the government, 700,000 people have been affected, including more than 200,000 people whose homes have been damaged or destroyed.

Crops, food supplies and livestock have been washed away by the floods, leaving 200,000 people in need of food assistance to survive until the next harvest in April, 2011. The government has declared a state of emergency and has asked for immediate international assistance.

Heavy rains are continuing, and the waters have not yet started to recede. The standing water is also raising the risk of water-borne disease and malaria.

Read more

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Africa - Half of Benin affected by devastating floods - 800 cases of Cholera reported

Re: Africa - Half of Benin affected by devastating floods - 800 cases of Cholera reported

Two-thirds of Benin under water: UN agency
Posted: Wed Oct 20 2010, 12:44 hrs
Geneva:
Two-thirds of the Western African state of Benin is under water, the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.



Around 76,000 square kilometers, an area bigger than Ireland, has been affected by severe flooding, which has also hit Chad, northern Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria, affecting 1.5 million people in the region, it said on Tuesday.



In Benin, the country hardest hit by the floods, 100,000 people have been left homeless, 55,000 houses have been flooded and at least 43 people have died, the UN agency said.



It said it was concerned about a cholera outbreak in Benin, with 800 cases already reported across the country and more expected due to the floods.



The United Nations has unblocked $8 million to provide emergency shelter, and food, medical and other humanitarian supplies, and an international appeal is in preparation, it added.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/twothirds-of-benin-under-water-un-agency/700094/

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Africa - Two-thirds of Benin under water - 800 cases of cholera reported

Re: Africa - Two-thirds of Benin under water - 800 cases of cholera reported

Benin's Worst Floods Since 1963 Overlooked by International Community: Cholera cases continue to rise

<!--docTitle--><!--Attention ligne utilis?e pour l'impression-->Source: CARE
Date: 21 Oct 2010
COTONOU, Benin (October 21, 2010) - For the past five weeks, more than half of the communes in Benin have been severely affected by floods due to an unusually heavy rainy season. Twice the amount of rain normally expected has lashed the country. The official figure of 358,621 people affected is likely grossly underestimated, after a recent UNDAC helicopter assessment showed that the number is closer to 680,000. And yet this tragic situation hasn't attracted the attention of the international community, which remains silent on the situation in Benin.

Fifty-one out of 77 communes in the country are affected. Even the floods of 1963, which are remembered as the worst disaster that Benin has ever known, did not cause as much destruction as this year's floods.

"All the elders agree that they have never seen such flooding," said Rotimy Djossaya, country director of CARE Benin. "Yet the information has not resonated in the international community. It seems that despite the extraordinary devastation caused by this year's floods, people think it is simply the annual flooding season."

[...]

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/ASHU-8AFRQY?OpenDocument&rc=1&cc=ben

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Africa - Two-thirds of Benin under water - 800 cases of cholera reported

Re: Africa - Two-thirds of Benin under water - 800 cases of cholera reported

Flooding in Benin stokes fear of cholera deaths
JODY CLARKE in Nairobi

BENIN IS at risk of a major cholera outbreak, an international aid agency warned yesterday, as the West African nation reeled from its worst flooding since 1963.

Fifty-five thousand homes have been destroyed or damaged, and 250,000 people left homeless by the flooding, leaving many susceptible to the water borne disease, said Care International.

?The latrines are flooded, so people are bathing, cooking and drinking with water that has human waste in it,? Helen Hawkins, a water and sanitation specialist with Care in Benin told The Irish Times.

?Some people have obviously stayed in their homes to protect their belongings but that means they are living in flooded homes surrounded by water. So there is quite a risk of a possible outbreak.? So far, 846 cases of cholera and seven deaths from the disease have been recorded.


continues at; http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/1026/1224282004302.html

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Africa - Two-thirds of Benin under water - 846 cases of cholera reported

Benin under water

World Bank blog

I've written before about floods in Niger and Abidjan, but these experiences left me poorly prepared for what I saw in Benin a few days ago.
Half the country is under water, and it's still raining.

We recently received a request from the President of Benin to assist with recent flooding. I was asked to go take a look, get a feel for the scale of the problem, find out what Government and donors were doing about it, and make some recommendations for Bank action.

read more

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Africa - Two-thirds of Benin under water - 846 cases of cholera reported

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UN rallies support to aid Benin and Djibouti, hit by natural disasters

03 November 2010

The United Nations, its humanitarian partners and the Government of Benin today launched a joint $47 million emergency appeal to help nearly 800,000 people in the West African nation which is experiencing the worst flooding in a century.

More than 680,000 people in 55 of the country's 77 municipalities have been affected by the flooding, with more than 105,000 people having lost their homes.

Full story:

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=36647&Cr=benin&Cr1=