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afrol News, 7 February - More than 27,000 people have had to be evacuated from their homes in northern and central Tunisia as the worst floods in ten years have hit the country. There are reports of at least six children having died as a consequence of the torrential rains, exacerbated by an intense cold wave. Also the material damages have been immense. The Red Cross and Crescent reports of hundreds of houses that were damaged or destroyed, in addition to many livestock drowning during the flooding. The flooding was caused by extraordinary weather conditions in January, when northern Africa normally experiences cold and moist weather. Rains were however torrential and the temperatures reached record lows. The hardest hit areas have been the mountain areas and northern coastline, including the Mediterranean port city of Bizerte. - Most affected families are small farmers or agricultural workers and their homes are modest, explains Dr Tahar Cheniti, Secretary-General of the Tunisian Red Crescent. "Usually they stock reserves of couscous, oil and pasta for the family for the year, and now they have nothing left," he adds. The Tunisian Red Crescent is involved in the aid work that concentrates on bringing essential assistance to some 3,000 people (600 families). "The priority is to help them rebuild or clean out their houses and reconstitute their food stocks," says Mr Cheniti. The aid operations are to bring food, blankets and warm clothing to those families left homeless by the flooding. "Winter will last at least another two months," Dr Cheniti points out. Many families are reported to have also lost most of their belongings, including a whole year's worth of food reserves. Out of nine affected governorates in the country, Jendouba, Béja, Manouba and Bizerte are those which suffered the most damage. The eastern and southern coast, the favourite destinations of the many European tourists heading for Tunisia during the northern winter, has not been significantly affected by the floods. European tour operators continue ordinary departures headed for the Tunisian resorts of Sousse, Hammamet and Djerba.
Sources: Based on Red Crescent and afrol archives.
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