Deutsche Welle :
At least 31 people died in flash floods in the northern Afghan province of Parwan, state-run Bakhtar News Agency reported on Monday.
Heavy rains hit the province north of Kabul on Sunday, causing the flash flooding, according to the report.
Officials said children were among the dead and dozens of people were still missing, while thousands of acres of land, livestock and roads were affected.
Three districts in Parwan were especially hard-hit. More than a hundred homes were partially or completely destroyed, an official was quoted by the German dpa news agency as saying.
Other provinces, including Kapisa, Panjshir and Nangarhar, were also affected by the flooding.
“The situation is severe. We are demanding national and international agencies provide emergency aid to prevent another human catastrophe,” Karimullah Wasiq, Kapisa’s director for information and culture told dpa.
Immediate financial assistance and food packages were provided for the victims’ families, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.
Local weather officials forecast more rains in the coming days across Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.
Seasonal flooding damages homes, agricultural land and infrastructure every year in Afghanistan.
The mountain-ringed northern provinces often witness floods from heavy rains.
Flash floods killed 40 people across Afghanistan last month.
The effects of natural disasters in Afghanistan are exuberated by decades of conflict and insufficient investment in disaster risk reduction.
Mary Ellen McGroarty, head of the World Food Programme’s efforts in Afghanistan, told DW there were “unprecedented levels of food insecurity and malnutrition in the country.”
“The harvest this year was not as good as we hoped because you still have in some areas back to back drought. And the economic crisis continues and the situation continues to deteriorate,” she said.
