OCHA Situation Report No. 8
Uganda: Floods
15 October 2007


HIGHLIGHTS

- US$ 6 MILLION GRANT FOR FLOODS RELEASED BY CENTRAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE 
F UND (CERF); FUNDING FOR UGANDA FLOODS FLASH APPEAL NOW AT 17%

- OVERLAND ACCESS TO KATAKWI DISTRICT RESUMES AS TEMPORARY ROAD WORKS AT 
K OMOLO BRIDGE ARE COMPLETED

The information contained in this report has been gathered by the Office 
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) from sources 
including the Government of Uganda, UN agencies, non-governmental 
organizations and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red 
Crescent Societies (IFRC).

Situation Overview

1. Grave concern about the possibility for an outbreak of epidemic 
disease in flood affected areas of eastern Uganda continues, as do 
preparedness and contingency planning activities. Given the chronic and 
severe understaffing of health personnel in the affected region, and 
continued inadequate supplies of drugs and other medical supplies to 
meet increased demand, disease prevention activities, as well as 
activities to ensure food security, remain the overarching goals of the 
humanitarian community's response.

2. To date, flooding has reportedly affected the following districts: 
Amuria, Bukedea, Kaberamaido, Katakwi, Kumi and Soroti in Teso 
sub-region; Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum and Pader in Acholi sub-region; 
Amolatar, Apac, Dokolo, Lira and Oyam in Lango subregion; Abim, Kaabong, 
Kotido, Moroto and Nakapiripirit in Karamoja region; Bududa, Bukwo, 
Kapchorwa, Mbale, Manafwa and Sironko in Elgon region; Adjumani, Arua, 
Moyo, Nebbi and Yumbe in West Nile region; and Kiboga and Kamuli 
districts in central Uganda.

3. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni declared a state of emergency in 
the areas of eastern Uganda affected by the flooding on 19 September, 
which was endorsed by Parliament on 25 September.

4. Planning for the humanitarian response to the disaster is based on 
some 50,000 households, or approximately 300,000 people, being affected 
by the rainfall and associated flooding. This planning figure may be 
expected to change as additional assessments come in and/or depending on 
whether the intensified rainfall continues.

5. The Uganda Department of Meteorology's seasonal rainfall forecast for 
September to December predicts high chances for normal to above normal 
rains to continue over most parts of the eastern region of Uganda.

Priority Needs

6. The priority areas for the response, as identified by the 
Humanitarian Coordinator following consultation with the clusters and 
the Government, remain:

- Stabilising the initial food security situation;

- Preventing disease outbreaks and ensuring capacity to respond to 
health emergencies;

- Re-opening schools and ensuring access to primary education;

- Responding to the urgent needs of the most vulnerable;

- Ensuring physical access to the most vulnerable, and continuing 
inter-cluster assessments;

- Understanding the early recovery needs of the affected population and 
prioritising recovery interventions.

Access

7. Access constraints continue to pose significant obstacles to 
operations. Substantial damage to roads and bridges in eastern and 
northern Uganda has greatly increased travel times.

8. At present, access to the Teso sub-region for the humanitarian 
community remains restricted to the Lira-Soroti road. However, continued 
rains and attendant rising water levels, coupled with the risk of 
floating grass islands obstructing the culverts along the road, mean 
that the sub-region remains at risk to be entirely cut off from the rest 
of Uganda. The Logistics Cluster, led by the World Food Programme (WFP), 
has offered support to the Ministry of Works for the maintenance of the 
access route to Soroti via Lira; a positive response is still being 
awaited.

9. Meanwhile, access to Katakwi district from Soroti and Amuria 
districts reopened on 11 October with the completion of temporary 
repairs at the Komolo bridge. At present, it remains unclear how 
continued rains will affect the repairs; additional road work will be 
needed to ensure the road's integrity.

10. The road from Mbale to Soroti remains cut at Awoja Bridge, the main 
link between Soroti and Mbale in eastern Uganda. Other access 
restrictions within the Teso sub-region continue to impede relief 
deliveries and assessments of particularly remote locations. Most feeder 
roads are subject to travel only in 4x4 or 6x6 vehicles.

Humanitarian Response

Since the issuance of the last Situation Report, the following updates 
have been received:

Shelter and Non-Food Items (NFIs) Working Group 11. The Working Group 
reports that some 17,000 households in the Teso and Bugisu sub-regions 
have received emergency NFIs, including blankets, tarpaulins, pots and 
pans.

Early Recovery

12. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), cluster lead for 
Early Recovery, is providing technological support (computers and other 
office equipment) to the Office of the Prime Minister's Coordination 
Office in Soroti.

13. The UNDP, in conjunction with UN-Habitat and the French Embassy, 
conducted a scoping mission in Teso sub-region.

14. UNDP is in the process of setting-up an office in Soroti to prepare 
for early recovery in the flood-affected districts. UNDP has conducted 
consultations with national and local officials on early recovery 
interventions and will provide assistance for early recovery 
coordination, information management, support to local government 
administration and establishment and operationalization of a quick 
impact community response initiative (fund).

15. The Red Cross has begun focus group discussions with communities in 
Amuria and Katakwi in order to tailor appropriate seed packages for 
distributions to an estimated 20,000 households, scheduled to begin 
before the end of the month, in time for planting in early November.

Food Security

16. The World Food Programme (WFP), co-cluster lead for Food Security, 
has reached 129,152 flood-affected people, 39 per cent of targeted 
beneficiaries, with 2,131 metric tonnes (MT) of food aid to date. Some 
3,000 beneficiaries received food aid as air operations resumed out of 
Soroti on 10 October.

17. Flood-affected communities in Otuke sub-country of Lira district 
remain inaccessible for food aid distributions. The humanitarian 
community in Lira is preparing for a joint beneficiary verification 
exercise in preparation for the resumption of food aid deliveries.

18. More than half of the beneficiary lists required to begin food
distributions in Karamoja have been collected; distributions to
flood-affected persons in Moroto and Nakapiripirit districts are set to
resume next week.

Attachments:
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/retrieveattachments?openagent&docid=3EA89CF6029EE2554925737500047056&file=Full_Report.pdf

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