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Flash
floods leave three dead, 30 missing, thousands homeless
3
April, 2014
New Zealand has given an initial contribution of $300,000 to help the Solomon Islands cope with the severe flooding in its capital, Honiara, and other areas.
The
flash floods have killed at least three people and left thousands
homeless.
Foreign
Minister Murray McCully said it was likely the death toll from the
floods would rise, and there had also been damage to infrastructure
and homes.
$250,000
would go to agencies working in the Solomon Islands to provide
emergency relief supplies and shelter to those affected by the
flooding. A further $50,000 in emergency funding has been released to
New Zealand's High Commission to help address areas of immediate need
identified by the Solomon Islands' Government.
Mr
McCully said New Zealand was in contact with the Solomon Islands
about what was required and was ready to send further help.
Entire
communities were swept away as the city's main river, the Matanikau,
burst its banks today, bringing down bridges and inundating the
downtown area in a disaster observers said was one of the worst ever
faced by the Pacific nation.
"The
situation is quite dire," Save the Children's Solomons
development program director Rudaba Khondker said on Friday.
"This
level of rain has never been experienced before in Guadalcanal (the
island where Honiara is located)."
Khondker
said 16 evacuation centres had been set up in local schools to
provide shelter for more than 10,000 homeless people, a huge
proportion of the population in a city of only 70,000.
"It's
a logistical challenge," she said, adding that roads had been
cut and communications were patchy.
"The
east side (of the city) is tough to reach and in the west side we're
still carrying out assessments."
She
said dengue fever, already common on the Solomons, was a major
concern in the evacuation camps.
UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs' (OCHA) regional
director Sune Gudnitz said the flooding followed days of heavy rain
which was still falling.
"The
water has not subsided and flood waters are continuing to build,"
he told AFP.
"The
depression is threatening to turn into a category one cyclone in the
coming hours and days."
Fiji-based
Gudnitz said OCHA was ready to provide assistance but at the moment
the Solomons' government was "firmly in the driver's seat"
in the emergency response.
He
said police were reporting three dead and an unknown number missing.
Khondker
said at least 30 people were unaccounted for and there were grave
fears for their safety.
Australia
updated its travel advice for the Solomons warning of road closures
and delays at Honiara's Henderson International Airport.
The
advisory also said there had been reports of looting in the city's
Chinatown area.
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