ALGIERS, October 5, 2008 (AP) — A baby was found alive by rescuers after spending four days in a pool of mud following flash floods that killed at least 41 people in central Algeria this week, a local official said Sunday.
"It's a miracle, really a miracle to find it alive after all this time," the town governor of Ghardaia, Yahia Fahim, told national radio. The state-run APS news agency said the 4-month-old baby appeared in good health after being discovered late Saturday and had been handed to a family while authorities looked for its parents.
Journalists in Ghardaia, where most of the victims drowned, said none of them had seen the baby since it was saved. But the governor said its photo would be posted in all local media for the family to recognize it. It was not clear from his comments whether the baby was a boy or a girl.
Authorities did not say how they knew the baby had been in the mud since the flooding.
The reported rescue came as authorities confirmed at least 41 deaths in the floods caused by torrential rains this week in this usually arid region. In addition to 33 casualties already reported in and around Ghardaia, two more people drowned in the adjacent district of Ourghla and four died farther to the north in the town of Tebessa, some 600 kilometers (370 miles) east of Algiers, APS said.
Authorities say massive rescue efforts are ongoing in the zone and that emergency measures have been taken to prevent epidemics from spreading through polluted waters.
Hundreds of troops and security services have deployed to prevent looting and help with recovery operations. Thousands of blankets, tents and food units were being handed out in Ghardaia, home to about 100,000 people.
Some 1,400 houses were severely damaged in this medieval town located in a long and narrow valley known as the M'zab, about 370 miles (600 kilometers) south of the capital, APS said. The M'zab is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site and lies on the edge of the Sahara, the world's largest desert.
October 5, 2008 -- The UAE will rush urgent relief to flood-hit population in Algeria. Living conditions of people have been deteriorating due to flash floods which swept the southern Algerian oasis province of Ghardaia, killing 55 people, injuring hundreds of people and washing away more than 4,000 houses and rendering their dwellers homeless.
Deputy Prime Minister and President of the Red Crescent Authority (RCA) H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan has directed the RCA to implement humanitarian programme to cater for basic needs of the flood-victims.
''Acting upon Sheikh Hamdan's directives, the RCA has immediately begun delivering relief supplies to the affected segments as part of a massive humanitarian programme that lives up to aspirations of the UAE leadership,''said Dr. Ali bin Abdullah Al Ka'abi, RCA Chairman.
He said the RCA had decided to purchase assistance from the local markets in Algeria to ensure swift delivery to the targeted population in coordination with the Algerian Red Crescent Society and UAE Embassy there.
''We are closely following the humanitarian situation in Algeria and its unfolding consequences on affected people........we will spare no effort to assist our brethren in Algeria,' he affirmed.
October 5, 2008 -- This bulletin is being issued for information only, and reflects the current situation and details available at this time. Based on the initial assessment, the Algerian Red Crescent (Algerian RC) is currently developing a plan of action which will be detailed in the next report.
Summary:
Floods caused by heavy rains have killed at least 33 people and injured 50 in and around the Algerian oasis town of Ghardaia on 2 October 2008. Eight of the 13 districts of the surrounding Ghardaia province have been affected by the floods; and 600 homes have been inundated in the town.
The Algerian RC, through its regional committee in Ghardaia, has been immediately present on the site, deploying its regional intervention teams. The National Society has initiated a relief operation and is conducting additional assessments. The Algerian RC has been using its central and regional stocks of relief items to cover the immediate needs; and local and public appeals were launched, which made the National Society very successful in mobilizing and managing local donations.
However, considering the scale of the disaster – eight willayas being affected in a diameter of 30 kms along the Oued M'Zab and approximately 2,000 families in need – the Algerian RC is planning to request for a disaster relief emergency fund (DREF) allocation to continue its emergency operation.
The situation
Torrential rains in the Algerian Sahara caused flash floods, killing 33 people and leaving 50 injured in the region of Ghardaia. The floods also left about a 1,000 of people homeless and many other people are missing. Hundreds of people had to be rescued by helicopters and up to 600 houses are estimated to be destroyed in the rains of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The rains stopped on Friday and water appeared to be subsiding but some streets were still submerged. The water level was eight meters (26 feet) high in some parts of the town, and residents feared at the possibility of more flash floods in the town of 100,000 on the northern edge of the Sahara.
Phone lines in the area were disrupted on Thursday which complicated the communication and collection of information from remote villages. Eight Wilayas have been affected by the floods but the most severe situation is in the Wilaya of Ghardaia. Following the heavy rains, mudslides overrun the riverbanks of Oued M'Zab and invaded the villages. According to local witnesses, in some places the amount of mud reached 8 meters and some houses were buried up to the second floor. The authorities have confirmed the severity of the emergency situation, and the search and rescue operations are still going on.
Algerian RC, civilian protection, local non-governmental organisations and volunteers are organizing their intervention on the site in favour of thousands of affected people. As cited by the APS agency based on the brief of the Minister of National Solidarity, Djamel Ould Abbas, the Algerian government unblocked aid for the affected population on Friday. The Minister added that the Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia gave strict orders for the population affected by the natural catastrophe to be taken care of by releasing unrestricted credit.
In and around Ghardaia, those who had escaped the worst of the flooding helped their less fortunate neighbours, offering shelter and hot meals to those left homeless by the flash floods. The Ministry of Interior sent tents, generators, and 400 tonnes of food aid to the region. The authorities also requisitioned two sports halls, where they installed 890 tents and 1,500 camp beds for those left homeless by the rains.
Around 5,000 people demonstrated in the town of Ghardaia on Friday to demand urgent aid after flash floods killed 33 residents. The protesters demanded basic food supplies and equipment to help search for survivors or bodies.
The Minister of Interior, Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni, said the floods are the worst for a century, while locals reported sweeping damage. Several parts of Algeria were lashed by heavy rains including Djelfa - midway between Ghardaia and Algiers - where two people lost their lives.
Lundi 6 octobre 2008 -- Huit communes de la wilaya de Ghardaïa affectées par les intempéries survenues mardi et mercredi derniers ont été déclarées zones sinistrées, a annoncé dimanche à Ghardaïa le chef du gouvernement, M. Ahmed Ouyahia. "Mandaté par le président de la République, j'ai annoncé aux autorités locales la décision de déclarer zones sinistrées les huit communes de la wilaya de Ghardaïa affectées par les dernières intempéries", a affirmé le chef du gouvernement lors d'une conférence de presse tenue à l'issue d'une réunion regroupant des membres du gouvernement, les autorités locales et les élus de la wilaya. Cette décision sera entérinée par le prochain conseil du gouvernement, a-t-il ajouté.
Le chef du gouvernement, M. Ahmed Ouyahia, qui s'est déplacé dimanche à Ghardaïa a assuré les citoyens des zones sinistrées de l'engagement de l'Etat à prendre en charge les effets de cette catastrophe naturelle. M. Ouyahia, qui a rencontré sur place des citoyens affectés par cette tragédie, a indiqué à ses interlocuteurs que "l'Etat a mobilisé tous les moyens pour la réhabilitation des habitations et les constructions endommagées".
Les fortes intempéries qui ont touché Ghardaïa et sa région ont fait 33 morts et 48 blessés, et plus de 1.400 habitations inondées, selon le dernier bilan provisoire rendu public vendredi par la cellule nationale de crise instituée par le ministère de l'Intérieur et des Collectivités locales. Les intempéries ont affecté 8 communes sur les 13 que compte la wilaya, à savoir Ghardaïa, Bounoura, El-Atef, Daïa Ben Dahoua, Guerrerra, Berriane, Metlili et Sebseb.
Lundi 6 Octobre 2008 -- Toute la vallée en parle, et pour cause, même la radio locale ne cesse de le répéter en boucle. Un bébé de quatre mois a été retrouvé vivant à Tadjnanet, dans la commune d’El-Atteuf, quatre jours après les terribles inondations qui ont endeuillé huit communes de la pentapole du M’zab. C’est, semble-t-il, en dégageant les gravats, immondices et autres objets hétéroclites amassés et englués par la boue, dans un des quartiers de ce ksar millénaire inscrit au patrimoine universel de l’humanité par l’Unesco que des sauveteurs bénévoles ont retrouvé le bébé, certes mal en point, mais vivant. Cette réjouissante nouvelle, qui s’est répandue dans toute la vallée du M’zab comme une traînée de poudre, a donné encore espoir de retrouver d’autres miraculés.
Lundi 6 Octobre 2008 -- Les dégâts causés par les dernières pluies diluviennes, qui ont dévasté la région de Ghardaïa, sont estimés à un milliard de DA rien que pour le secteur de l'éducation nationale, et 12 000 écoliers n'ont pas encore regagné les bancs des classes, c'est du moins ce qu'a déclaré le ministre de l'Education nationale Boubekeur Benbouzid lors de l'installation d'une commission mixte, constituée des départements de l'éducation, de la solidarité nationale, de l'habitat, et du transport afin d'évaluer la situation et la prise en charge des écoliers. En outre, 18 établissements sont ruinés par les inondations, dont 5 sont occupés par les familles sinistrées, essentiellement à Ghardaïa-ville, la commune de Bounoura, et d'El-Atteuf. Le ministre a ordonné au président de la commission d'enclencher l'opération d'achat de bus pour assurer le transport de 9 600 élèves qui seront transférés vers les écoles d'accueil, ainsi que la mise en place d'un dispositif permettant d'assurer la restauration des élèves. En effet des discussions sont engagées avec des entreprises publiques afin d'installer dans les plus brefs délais des salles de classe en préfabriqué comme mesure palliative urgente.
Par ailleurs, l'Etat, selon Benbouzid, va doter tous les écoliers sinistrés de trousseaux et fournitures scolaires. Pour sa part, le représentant du ministère de l'Intérieur et des Collectivités locales a affirmé qu'une quantité de produits alimentaires et de vêtements est arrivée aux zones proclamées sinistrées. Cependant, le gouvernement a dégagé une enveloppe financière non plafonnée, lors d'une réunion interministérielle au lendemain de la catastrophe, consacrée à l'évaluation des dégâts et aux besoins de la population. S'agissant de l'action de solidarité en matière d'hébergement des familles sinistrées, plusieurs infrastructures, dont deux salles omnisports, ont été mises à la disposition de ces familles en plus de 890 tentes, 12 250 couvertures et 1 500 lits de camp.
Concernant l'approvisionnement en denrées alimentaires, la wilaya de Ghardaïa a reçu à ce jour 41,5 tonnes de denrées et 3 000 bouteilles d'eau du ministère de la Solidarité nationale, 4 000 sachets d'eau fournis par l'Algérienne des eaux (ADE). 370,6 tonnes de denrées alimentaires et 58.188 bouteilles d'eau ont été également fournies par les wilayas de M'sila, Djelfa, Ouargla, Médéa, Biskra, Batna, Laghouat, Blida et Sétif. Quant au risque d'une épidémie à transmission hydrique le ministre de la Santé a affirmé que lors des catastrophes naturelles, il y a toujours un risque d'épidémies. A cet effet, et pour y faire face le vaccin est disponible, ajoutant que tous les points d'eau ont été désinfectés, en plus de l'opération de désinsectisation qui se poursuit. Insistant sur la propreté de l'eau, le ministre a affirmé que des mesures ont été prises pour que les puits touchés soient fermés et désinfectés.
ALGIERS, October 6, 2008 (KUNA) -- Algerian authorities declared Monday the province of Ghardaia in southern Algeria that witnessed floods last Wednesday, a "disaster area." Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahya who recently visited the area said that the government has pledged $US 300 million to repair the devastation caused by the floods. The amount will target the rebuilding of homes, schools, the telephone exchange and infrastructure in the area. He vowed that families would return to reconstructed homes by December 31, under strict directions by the country's President Abdulaziz Bouteflika. Recent floods in Algeria claimed the lives of 40 people, injuring 100 others as well as the destruction of 1,400 houses and a number of schools not to mention damage to infrastructure.
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