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At least 50 people have died in flash floods triggered by heavy rains in central Afghanistan, officials have said.<\/p>\n
Authorities in the Ghor province say a number of others are missing, as people ran to safety on higher grounds just minutes before the floodwaters hit.<\/p>\n
They say the floods have also killed thousands of cattle, destroyed some 2,000 houses, and damaged many more.<\/p>\n
The fresh bout of heavy rain follows widespread flooding in in northern and central areas this week.<\/p>\n
Officials say that in the provincial capital, Firozkoh, around 2,000 shops are under water and most roads leading to it have been cut off.<\/p>\n
A resident there said “a huge and horrible flood” washed away everything, as he and his family raced to safety after being alerted by officials and from mosque loudspeakers.<\/p>\n
Zahir Zahid told the AFP news agency: “I watched the flood destroy my house with my own eyes. Women and children, everyone was crying.”<\/p>\n
The province’s disaster management department declared an “emergency situation” and appealed for shelter, food and water.<\/p>\n
The spokesperson for provincial governor Abdul Wahid Hamas said dozens of people were missing.<\/p>\n
More than 300 people died last week, according to UN and Taliban officials, after unusually heavy rains devastated scores of villages in the north.<\/p>\n
This has left much of the farmland covered in thick mud in a country where 80% of the more than 40 million people depend on agriculture.<\/p>\n
UN agencies have warned that the number of people who have died in the latest floods may rise as rescue efforts have been severely hampered without access to the affected areas.<\/p>\n
The heavy rain has come after the country experienced a prolonged period of drought earlier in the year.<\/p>\n
Climate analysts say Afghanistan – already war-ravaged and alienated from the world since the Taliban took power in 2021 – is one of the least prepared countries to tackle the impacts of climate change.<\/p>\n
Afghanistan’s meteorological department has warned of more rain and possible floods across all of the country’s provinces.<\/p>\n
The worst-hit in the north, Baghlan, still remains inaccessible by trucks, according to the UN’s World Food Programme.<\/p>\n
The UN says survivors displaced in earlier flooding have been left with no home, no land, and no source of livelihood.<\/p>\n
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