With more than 30 people killed, dozens missing, 30,000 displaced and damages reaching over one billion Euros, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is launching an emergency appeal to bring immediate assistance to victims of the worst floods in 200 years in Ukraine and Moldova.
The appeal for 1.2 million Swiss francs (€ 765,000 / US$ 1.2 million), will support operations by the Ukrainian and Moldova Red Cross Societies to bring emergency help to 60,000 particularly vulnerable people (in particular the elderly, and multi-child households) over the next eight months. Funds will be used to supply food, clean water, hygiene articles, household items, bedding, repair work on homes and psychological support.
'These are the worst floods in two centuries. The ground cannot absorb any more water, and more rains could trigger mudslides. People are in desperate straits, food is urgently needed as well as clean water. Many people have lost crops, gardens, livestock, poultry as well as their food reserves,' said Joe Lowry, Federation Representative for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine, speaking from the disaster zone. 'Moldova is still recovering from a succession of serious droughts, for which the Red Cross provided food aid. This is the worst possible irony for Europe's poorest country, where a quarter of the population has emigrated to find work and where many elderly survive on less than one Euro a day.'
In Western Ukraine, the six most affected regions are Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernvitsy, Zakarpattya, Lviv, Ternopil and Vinitsia, where some 40,000 houses in 655 settlements, more than 30,000 hectares of croplands and nearly 700 kilometres of roads have been severely damaged by flooding.
In Moldova, several districts in the north of the country have been seriously affected, among them, Briceni and Oknitsa. Some 670 people have been evacuated, and more than 300 houses flooded. On 26 July, 1,371 children were evacuated from summer camps in the municipality of Chisinau.
Red Cross volunteers and staff have been working around the clock distributing food, water, clothing, hygiene articles and other necessities to flood victims. Thousands of homes will be uninhabitable for weeks if not months, as their elderly occupants do not have either the strength or the means to effect repairs.
Immediate assistance will consist in food (oil, rice, flour, sugar, canned meat), drinking water, hygiene articles, bedding and blankets. A second round of food distribution will take place in December and some 400 lightly-damaged houses will be cleaned and repaired by mobile repair teams of craftsmen, over the next six months.
The danger of more flooding remains as rivers are still swollen and the land is sodden. Red Cross branches in the affected areas are on high alert and are assisting with the vital task of providing a clear picture of the evolving disaster and the current and likely needs.
For further information, or to set up interviews, please contact:
Marie-Françoise Borel, Information Officer, Tel: + 41 22 730 43 46/ + 41 79 217 33 45
Media Unit Duty phone, Tel: + 41 79 416 38 81