In the afternoon  of Wednesday the 13 June 2018, the districts of Branicevo, Kolubara, Sumadija, Podunavlje and Pomoravlje in Serbia, were affected with sudden heavy rainfall, hailstorm, downpour and in some parts incessant rain. On Friday 15 June, the Hydro-Meteorological Service of Serbia (RHMZ) announced more bad weather for the coming weekend. Over the week, hailstorms and heavy rain caused damage to crops and households in western, central, and eastern Serbia, prompting authorities to declare an emergency situation in several municipalities. A dam on the Busur River burst on 15 June, affecting areas in the east (Source: B92, Tanjug).

Alerts_Floods_Serbia

As of 25 May 2018, Sub tropical storm Alberto, with maximum sustained winds of 65 km/hour, has passed over Cuba and brought torrential rainfalls (4 inches of water in 24 hours) causing overflowing of rivers and streams. According to Ministry of Interior, Flood waters swept away a bridge and damaged roads and other infrastructure, leaving many communities cut off and nearly 60,000 people without electricity. More than 51,000 Cubans have been evacuated in the affected area.  11 people reported dead, historical figure in Cuba, and 2 disappeared respectively across the affected territories.  Approximately 1,384 homes have been affected, with 174 totally collapsed. Reports on damages are still being completed.

An oil spill – which is now under control – was caused by heavy flooding at one of the nation’s main oil refineries in Cienfuegos. It has been controlled by local authorities. There has also been substantial damage in the agricultural sector, with crops such as rice, beans, tobacco and bananas particularly affected.  Concerns have also been raised about possible waterborne disease outbreaks.

Consejo de Iglesias de Cuba (CIC), an ACT Alliance member is going to provide emergency response to the affected population.

Alerts_Cuba_Floods

During the night of Wednesday the 30th  May 2018, the town of Marwa, Ruvu Mferejini and Ruvu Jiungeni in SAME District, Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania, was severely hit by overflow of river Ruvu and Nyumba ya Mungu Dam. On this night an overflow caused displacement of households, interrupted communication, swept away termed animals and crop fields. According to the RVA done by two members of ACT Tanzania Forum (ELCT and TCRS), the overflow caused floods that displaced 450 Households that had a range of between 10 to 20 persons in each household making a total number of 5,780 homeless people.

Findings indicate that 890 acres of farmed land (tomatoes, onions, maize and beans) submerged in water, 300 houses were swept away and or covered with mud and about 135,000 kilograms of foodstuff from the registered 450 households were swept away.

Number of domestic animals and birds died was not yet established as all men and youths with their animals vacated the area leaving behind their wives and children unattended. According to the SAME District Commissioner’s report, nine primary schools and one secondary school from the ward had to be closed before the term end and therefore interrupted school calendar.

The floods have put the town in a state of crisis. The flood affected persons find themselves in a desperate situation, with many unmet vital humanitarian needs such as access to: food, safe drinking water, school and scholastic materials, housing, washrooms and other sanitary services.

The regional and District commissioners of Kilimanjaro Region, Same and Mwanga Districts through their structured response divisions are closely working with the displaced families. Through the evacuation team, the Government has shifted the affected families to safer areas and have provided land for residential construction (each family given a plot of size 15X25 meters). The Government has also provided Water guard tablets to cleanse water. A team scouts and police are helping in putting in place temporary latrines.

Norwegian Church Aid has committed TZS 22 million for purchase of water purification tablets, water storage facilities per each of the registered 450 households.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) conducted the Response Vulnerability Assessment, availed accommodation for women with U5 children in its nearby church premises. Tanganyika Christian Refugee Service donated 340 boxes of youth clothes, 15 bales of baby blankets and 10 bales of quits. Christian Council of Tanzania (CCT) through its WAMA offices in Dar es Salaam are sorting out how to engage /participate on the movement/activity.

ELCT and TCRS are responsible for the project implementation. The staff of ELCT and TCRS shall be very involved, as well as volunteers from affected communities.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania is submitting a Rapid Response Fund Proposal to support those in need.

Tanzania- Flood Emergency (Alert).

In the evening of Saturday the 26 May 2018, the district of Gamo Goffa zone and Sidama Zone in SNNPR and Oromia Regions  in Ethiopia, was affected by a landslide which caused 34 deaths (20 female and 14 male) and seriously injured 6 people. At least 21 houses were destroyed, and more than 50 livestock are reported dead.  The landslide has displaced 654 persons (380male/274 female) and disrupted vital livelihoods area of 95.6 hectares of land. Affected communities and seek urgent life-saving assistance of relief food, shelter, WASH and NFIs.

The landslides have put Chire district in a state of crisis. The affected population find themselves in a desperate situation, with many unmet vital humanitarian needs such as access to: food, shelter, and WASH.

ACT Ethiopia forum is planning on submitting a funding proposal to provide relief food, water trucking, water purification substances and essential non-food items such as (cooking utensils and sanitation materials) depending on the availability of RRF fund to ensure that the landslides affected persons’ basic needs are met with regards to Food, Water and NFI.

The emergency response is currently being coordinated by the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR) regional disaster risk management Bureau and district administrative office. To ensure that the humanitarian response is well coordinated and complementary, the ACT forum will take part in meetings with all relevant sector stakeholders (respective clusters on food, WASH and shelter and NFIs) and establish an open line of communication with crisis affected persons and communities to ensure a humanitarian response based on participation and feedback.

Ethiopia- Landslide Emergency (Alert)

The Fuego Volcano, located 27 miles southwest of Guatemala City, erupted around noon on Sunday, June 3, 2018. According to CONRED Guatemala’s national civil protection authority, the death toll has reached 65. The agency says that in addition, 46 people were injured, an unknown number is missing, and an estimated 3,271 people have been evacuated from the affected zone by Monday morning, with further evacuations planned. 1,916 people are currently in shelters. Authorities expect the death toll to rise as more bodies are discovered. As many as 1.7 million people may be affected mainly through ash intoxication and acid rain.  Emergency response teams from the Guatemala Red Cross are giving medical and psychosocial support to villages on the slopes of the volcano, which were buried in volcanic ash, mud and rocks as the volcano erupted for 16 ½ hours. Disaster response personnel and the military are conducting search and rescue operations. On Monday 4 June, a declaration of State of Calamity was made for the departments of Chimaltenango, Escuintla and Sacatepéquez in the central part of Guatemala, as well as three days of national mourning. Wounded and traumatized survivors are being rushed to hospitals by the Red Cross, as urgent work continues to evacuate communities from the danger zone.

So far preliminary needs have been identified in health, food security, shelter, psychosocial support, and WASH sectors.

ACT Guatemala Forum members Centro Evangélico de Estudios Pastorales en Centro América (CEDEPCA),  Consejo Ecuménico Cristiano de Guatemala (CECG), Christian Aid (CA), and The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) are coordinating for this emergency. The Forum is currently monitoring the situation and is preparing a response proposal based on a quick needs assessment. Coordination meetings are taking place at country level, in coordination with ACT Secretariat Regional Office and with humanitarian officers from LWF and CAID respectively.

Alerts_Guatemala_Volcanic_Eruption

On the morning of Sunday, the 20th of May 2018, with the provinces of Ratnapura, Kurunegala, Gampaha and Puttalam in particular (in total 19 provinces) being affected, Sri Lanka was flooded due to the onset of heavy monsoon rains. According to the situation update by the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) of Sri Lanka, as of 1200 hours on the 27th of May 2018, over 166,228 people (43,604 families) in 20 districts have been affected. As per the Report, 23 people have died, 13 have been injured and 1 person has been reported missing as a result of the heavy rains. More than 19,519 families have been evacuated into 339 welfare centres in 8 districts including the districts of Puttalam, Kegalle, Kalutara, Ratnapura, Gampaha and Colombo.

The ACT Sri Lanka forum is planning on submitting a funding proposal to provide cooked meals, dry rations, safe shelter and basic non-food items, basic health services and facilities to ensure that the floods affected persons’ basic needs are met with regards to persons in the most affected areas. ACT Alliance is ready to respond, by providing humanitarian assistance (shelter, and WASH), to affected populations through the ACT Appeal Mechanism in the coming weeks.

Alerts_Flood_Sri_Lanka_2018

In the afternoon  of Thursday 10 May 2018, in the town of El-Sultan Hassan village, El Minya Governorate in Egypt, an electric circuit short caused fire in one of the village houses. This spark caused the entire house to catch flame. The barns where built of wooden beams and palm branches, and they quickly caught fire. This fire burned down four houses of which each hosted three families.  They lost most of their furniture along with the building. The fire also destroyed the livestock of 45 families. These 45 families have lost their sources of livelihoods. A total of 12 families lost their houses and most of their furniture, and other household items.

The fire has put them in a state of crisis. The fire affected persons are in a desperate situation, now faced with many unmet vital needs such as access to: sufficient food, need for safe shelter and basic of non-food items. Their nutritional health is also to be met since they lost their livelihood assets and the source of income, and also could not salvage any food out of their blazing houses.

Alerts_Fire in Egypt

During the night of Friday 2 March 2018, Nairobi County was  severely flooded. On this day, flooding caused displacement of households, interrupted transport, swept away bridges and caused the death of 11 people nationwide.

According to OCHA Flash update #1 of 25th April 2018, floods have displaced more than 211,000 people and reportedly killed 72; injuring 33 across Kenya since March 2018. Other sources confirm that floods have disrupted livelihoods with at least 8,450 acres of farmland submerged in water and more than 6,000 livestock killed in addition to destroying houses and damaging infrastructure (health facilities, schools and learning materials).

Floods have interrupted opening of schools in several counties as some school buildings are submerged or totally cut off.

The dire situation is further compounded for flood affected people with vulnerabilities, more specifically for woman and girls who are at a higher risk of gender-based violence in areas where displaced persons have sought shelter such as school’s compounds and other community centres.

ACT Kenya forum is planning to submit a funding proposal to provide food and non-food items and other essential needs to ensure that flood affected persons’ basic needs are met.

Kenya-Emergency Floods Alert.

During the night of Friday the 22 September 2017, the province of Penama in Vanuatu, was elevated to an Alert Level 4 ‘Moderate eruption state’ due to elevated activity of Manaro volcano on the island of Ambae. On Thursday 28 September A State of Emergency was declared for the entire island and on Thursday 28 September and a full, compulsory evacuation of the 11,000 residents of Ambae island was ordered to nearby islands of Espiritu Santo, Pentecost and Maewo. The volcano subsided somewhat and residents that chose to were repatriated by 30^th October 2017. On 7^th December 2017 the Alert Level was downgraded to 2 ‘Major Unrest’. However on Sunday March 18^th 2018 the volcano erupted again and the Alert Level was increased to 3 ‘Minor Eruption State’ with emissions of gas, ash and volcanic bombs. In particular the impact from the continuous outpouring of ash and gas emissions have created hazards including acid rain, flash flooding and landslides, polluted and destroyed water sources, damaged traditional housing, crops and trees, and impacted human health through direct exposure to acid rain and inhalation of fine ash particles.

ACT Alliance partners are currently monitoring the situation and are preparing a rapid needs assessment to have an in-depth context analysis and better understanding of existing vulnerabilities.

Alerts Vanuatu Volcanic Eruption 2018