IRIN
KYRGYZSTAN: Southern villages hit by floods and mudslides
19 April 2007


ALMATY, 19 April 2007 (IRIN) - Floods and mudslides caused by heavy 
downpours hit southern Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday, damaging houses and 
displacing families, the Kyrgyz Ministry of Emergencies (MOE) has said.

At least six families were evacuated from their homes in southern 
Jalalabad province after mudslides hit the villages of Charbak and 
Juzumjan in Aksy district, emergencies ministry spokesman Alisher 
Tashmatov told IRIN from the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, on Wednesday. They 
have been sheltered in tents.

The extent of the damage was not immediately clear. An MOE team is on 
the ground making initial assessments and has already examined 126 
houses affected by the mudslide, with most declared fit to live in. The 
disaster also destroyed 56 non-residential buildings in the villages.

MOE teams have been disinfecting houses and distributing tablets to 
prevent a typhoid outbreak - a potential risk following mudslides and 
floods in the area. They are also working to unblock three kilometres of 
roads obstructed by mud deposits.

About 450 cattle were lost in the mudslide, which preliminary estimates 
suggest caused US $200,000-worth of damage.

Heavy rains in neighbouring Osh province caused irrigation channels to 
burst, inflicting damage on schools and houses, Tashmatov said. At least 
43 homes were flooded in Uzgen district. In the village of Myrzaaki in 
Uzgen district 25 houses were damaged. An unspecified number of houses 
in another Uzgen district village, Kurshab, have been affected, along 
with two schools.

"According to preliminary information, on 17 April as a result of heavy 
rain in the village of Kurshab, the Shor-Suu channel burst and homes and 
two middle schools were flooded," Tashmatov said.

A total of 18 households were flooded in the settlement of Nura in 
neighbouring Karakulja district.

There are no preliminary reports of casualties.

The ministry has issued a flood and avalanche warning for 17-18 April, 
and transport on Kyrgyzstan's main north-south artery - the road from 
Bishkek to the southern town of Osh - has been restricted.

Kyrgyzstan's topography makes it prone to natural disasters. The UN 
Economic and Social Council says the Central Asian state of five million 
people is exposed to more than 20 different types of natural hazard, 
including earthquakes, landslides, flash floods and avalanches.

The European Commission Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) says natural 
disasters in Kyrgyzstan and its four Central Asian neighbours - 
Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - have killed about 
2,500 people and affected more than 5.5 million people in the past 10 
years.

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