Afghan floods leave over hundred dead thousands homeless

HONGKABUL: More than 100 people have been killed and thousands left homeless by flash floods in north and west Afghanistan, officials said on Friday, prompting desperate pleas for help from the impoverished provincial authorities.
Thousands of homes have been engulfed by flood waters in four provinces after three days of heavy rain in what is traditionally a wet period at the start of spring.
In the northern province of Jawzjan, police chief Faqer Mohammad Jawzjani said 55 bodies had been recovered, and that the number of dead would increase over the coming days.
“Providing aid or help from the ground is impossible,” he told Reuters. “We have carried 1,500 people to safe areas of neighbouring districts by helicopter. We need emergency assistance from the central government and aid agencies.”
The governor of neighboring Faryab province said 33 people had died there and another 80 were missing. “Ten thousand families have been affected and more then 2,000 houses have been destroyed,” Mohammadullah Batazhn said.
Another 13 people were killed in the provinces of Badghis and Sar-e Pol, local officials said.
“We have a confirmed toll of 33 people dead and 2,152 houses destroyed, several districts have been badly affected,” he said. “Rain is still continuing, which is hampering relief efforts.”
In Sar-e Pul, another northern province, the flooding killed at least six people with more than a dozen still missing, said governor Abdul Jabar Haqbeen.
The floodwaters destroyed farmland and also killed livestock across the remote region.
Flooding often occurs during the spring rainy season in northern Afghanistan, with flimsy mud houses offering little protection against rising water levels.