58 killed and dozens are missing in strong floods east of Yemen - Government declares

SANA?A* Oct. 26 ? 58 have been killed* dozens of citizens are missing and over 20*000 people are homeless due to flash floods that resulted from heavy rains in the eastern areas of Yemen including Hadramout and Al-Maharah.In a report by Minister of Interior Mutahhar Rashad Al-Masri* the death toll from the floods in Hadramout and Al-Maharah governorates was estimated at 58 and rescue teams had been able to shelter 3*000 people whose houses were destroyed.The Ministry of Defense declared in its latest statistics published in its electronic "September mobile" service that 1*700 houses and public buildings had collapsed and that power lines* telephone wires* roads and bridges had been cut due to floods in many areas of the two governorates.In Al-Maharah governorate* 1*318 kilometers east of Sana'a* floods caused more than 45 fishing boats to sink* an Indian ship to break down and a cut in telecommunications in the districts of Hawf* Qishin* Shahin and Saihut due to damage to optical fiber cables and the destruction of mobile phone coverage towers.In Hadramout governorate* located some 794 kilometers east of Sana'a* eyewitnesses said that floods are threatening the historical town of Shibam* a UNESCO world heritage site* after heavy rains resulted in the collapse of archeological buildings and had eradicated features of other historical ones.Salem Al-Khanbashi* governor of Hadramout* said in a statement to the state-run Saba News Agency that the executive authority in Hadramout had received field notifications which indicate that a number of dead bodies are floating in the flood water.The rescue and emergency committee formed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh last Friday has declared the governorates of Hadramout and Al-Maharah devastated areas "due to the major damage that befell them." Hasan Al-Lawzi* Minister of Information and member of the emergency committee* told Al-Siyassiya newspaper that the committee is currently surveying human and material damage and said that "flash floods resulting from heavy rain [had] caused huge damage to roads and bridges and cut electricity and telecommunication cables in addition to the human damage." President Saleh* who paid an inspection visit to Al-Mukalla and Sayaun cities in Hadramout* give directives to the emergency committee and local authorities to hasten in providing aid* saving the affected citizens and taking the necessary precautions to avoid further damage from the floods.Local authorities in the devastated areas have taken measures to limit the damage of the flood* including sheltering citizens whose houses were affected and reopening roads blocked by flood waters as well as searching for the missing in cooperation with the Yemeni army.Last Friday and Saturday* rescue teams were able to evacuate 2*300 citizens and 200 families in different areas of the two affected governorates and shelter them in schools. In addition* they saved a group of German tourists after the flood blocked their way in one of the Hadramout valleys.Chairman of the service committee in the Hadramout local council Abdullah Bawazeer told the Yemen Times by phone that rescue operations were ongoing in cooperation with the army forces which use helicopters to rescue stranded citizens in different areas of the two governorates. He pointed out that continuous rainfall and movement of the flood waters were hindering the rescue process.Bawazeer said* "The districts of Wadi Hadramout are more affected than the coastal areas of the governorate due to the big number of valleys [around 55 valleys] in Wadi Hadramout area.? Five helicopters belonging to the army and another belonging to an oil company have relocated to Sayoun airport to continue rescue operations and offer aid to the affected areas.Local* Arab and international reliefMeanwhile* the Ministry of Public Health and Population announced that it had formed an emergency chamber especial for surveying damage caused by the floods and put in place an overall plan to face the results of the disaster. Majid Al-Junaid* Deputy Minister of Health for the primary care sector* said that the ministry has sent 144 cartoons of medicine to Hadramout governorate. In addition* the ministry formed a field team to assess human damage.Hussein Al-Haddad* head of Sayoun Health Office* confirmed that hospitals of Hadramout were prepared to receive emergency cases and noted that they had been provided with necessary medical equipment as well as ten ambulances. For its part* the Wadi Hadramout branch of the Charitable Society for Social Welfare announced that it had bought foods and tents as well as blankets for YR 10 million to be distributed to the affected people. Al-Saleh Corporation for Social Development announced that it had sent medical aid to Sayoun city and opened a donation account to receive support from charitable people and traders "who desire to support the relief and sheltering efforts" in the affected areas. The Central Bank of Yemen also opened a donation account to receive support for the affected people "based on the directives of Ali Mohammed Mujawwar"* the prime minister. In a first reaction from the Yemeni private sector* Hayel Saeed An'am announced that it would donate YR 200 million to support relief and sheltering efforts in the devastated governorates. The Doum Company for Trade and Constructions donated USD 12*000 while businessman Ahmed Ghamdhan donated YR 20 million to help the affected people.On the regional level* the United Arab Emirates announced that it would offer urgent aid to help the affected people. The UAE News Agency reported that Sheikh Khalifah Bin Zayed A'al Nahyan* president of UAE* had given directives to offer urgent aid to provide relief to people affected by the floods in many areas in Yemen. The agency said that this initiative came to reduce the suffering of Yemeni people in Hadramout and Al-Maharah. UAE charity Mohammed Bin Rashed A?al Maktuum for Charitable and Humanitarian Works announced it was setting up an air and land bridge to deliver essential materials to affected people. Ibrahim Bu Melaihah* vice head of the association?s board of trustees* said that a first plane carrying food and urgent relief including 3*000 tents* 10 power generators* 20 fog pumps and 20 water pumps* would head from Dubai to Al-Mukalla on Monday. Bu Melaihah maintained that the power generators would be used to operate some clinics to be able to offer first aid to the affected people and that the fog pumps would serve to prevent the spread of malaria via mosquitoes* while the other pumps would be used to drain water from villages and populated areas.General Secretary of the Organization of the Islamic Conference* Akmal Al-Din Aughly* last Saturday called on all donor countries as well as financial and humanitarian organizations in the Islamic world to offer all possible forms of support to help the affected people and reduce their ordeal. He further directed the administration of humanitarian affairs in the organization to organize a relief campaign to the devastated areas in Yemen....

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