More lives lost as floods continue in southern Africa

More lives lost as floods continue in southern Africa. As of Monday, January 24, weeks of heavy rains caused officials to place Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Zambia on alert for flooding, while the government of South Africa declared 33 disaster areas in seven of its nine provinces. The number of confirmed South African fatalities in the past few days tripled to at least 123, including 88 in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, as some 20,000 people and nearly 425,000 hectares of agricultural lands were affected across the country.

In the tiny Kingdom of Lesotho, four people succumbed to a landslide as rains damaged crops, while two fatalities were reported in Madagascar. Five people further north in Zimbabwe lost their lives to flood-related incidents, while to the west in Angola, 11 people perished as flash flooding swept Luanda province. Spokesperson Elisabeth Byrs of the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated, "We fear flash floods. It's rather common in the region and this time we are seeing heavier rainfall than in previous years."

Upon hearing of the worsening conditions, Supreme Master Ching Hai on January 21 offered US$20,000 in urgent aid, an amount that could purchase approximately US$344,000 in emergency supplies obtained in the United States, based on the region's overall cost of living. With her heartfelt sympathies and prayers, she also asked that our nearby Association members please go if possible to bring comfort and assist the most vulnerable flood-stricken people.

Our grateful thanks, all officials and personnel working to alleviate these calamities, as we also thank Supreme Master Ching Hai for her heartfelt concern. It saddens us to know of the cost to precious life as we pray for the protection of the African people and that such extreme conditions are eased through our kinder care of Mother Earth and her inhabitants.

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News & Politics

Tags:

• disasters
• sympathies
• storm
• live losts
• floods
• global warming
• climate change
• southern Africa
• Luanda province
• rains
• landslides
• KwaZulu-Natal province
• Botswana
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Zimbabwe
• Zambia