ASIA/AFGHANISTAN - Victims and people missing due to heavy rainfall recorded in the last days

Chaghcharan (Agenzia Fides) - More than a hundred homes and as many acres of farmland and farm animals have been destroyed following the heavy rains that have taken place continuously for 5 days in the northern part of Afghanistan. According to the Afghan authorities and the UN, 37 deaths have been registered so far: 24 in four districts, including the provincial capital of Chaghcharan, other 13 in the district of Yaftal. Many people have also disappeared. A similar type of rain and hail is not common in this time of year. In the region, winter was the most rigorous in the last 15 years, with unusual snow storms. Experts had predicted that, with the melting snows, the rivers would grow, causing floods in the mountainous area in the north of the country during the boreal spring. In May, flooding in the province of Sari Pul, near Ghor, caused fifty deaths, mostly women and children. The weather is not improving and it is feared that the situation will worsen. The Authorities that deal with local national disasters have calculated that 135 households in Badakhshan have been completely destroyed, forcing the inhabitants to leave. According to the UN Agency for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, many of the dirt roads were severely flooded, making it difficult for the distribution of aid. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 26/6/2012)