Mongolia: Flash floods Emergency Plan of Action

A. Situation analysis

Description of the disaster

Between 3 to 5 July 2018, heavy rainfalls of unprecedented intensity caused flash floods in several parts of the country, affecting more than 792 households. Following the heavy rainfall, the province centers of Khovd, Bayan-Ulgii, Zavkhan, Uvurkhangai, and 1 khoroo (A “khoroo” is an administrative subdivision of Ulaanbaatar, and is often translated as a sub-district) in Khan-Uul district were flooded, resulting in the loss of lives, damages to shelters, properties, and livelihoods of the community members.

Affected families in Khovd province have been relocated to temporary shelters, but due to heavy winds and rain, plastic shelter covers have not been able to hold and protect people living in these temporary shelters. The local Emergency Commission then made the decision to relocate affected families to different areas, and to settle their land issues.
Some families found shelter with their relatives and are living in host families.

Between 9 and 11 July 2018, The National Disaster Response Team members (NDRT), together with the Branch Disaster Response Team (BDRT), conducted assessments and interviews of the affected population in Khovd province.

Meetings with local authorities were also held to get more information on what kind of support would be provided by the local authorities and identify gaps. Flooding overwhelmed the local response capacity, thus the local emergency management agency is requesting assistance from neighboring provinces to provide additional human resources to help with response operations. Local authorities have deployed its emergency teams to help clean the flooded area of debris, mud, and to drain the flood waters. The decision then to request for DREF support was initiated on 9 July 2018.

As a member of the Emergency Commission, MRCS has been requested by the local authorities to assist the affected families. As most of the families in flood affected areas lived in the ger2 district area, pit latrines were flooded with water, causing water borne diseases and diarrhea among the young children. As of 10 July, 12 people have been hospitalized for diarrhea – a number that represents 20 per cent of the all the emergency calls received by the hospital in Khovd province. Branch Disaster Response Team members in Khovd and Uvurkhangai provinces have been working closely with local authorities and are continuing to conduct assessments of the damages and effects to the population.

Information from the ground has been provided to the Secretary General and disaster management programme. By the order of Secretary General, two members from MRCS’s NDRT were in the field to conduct assessments with the BDRT, while the remaining members are on full alert and are ready for deployment. Summary of the affected population and location based on assessment is tabulated.

For more, please visit:
https://reliefweb.int/report/mongolia/mongolia-flash-floods-emergency-plan-action-epoa-n-mdrmn008

Source:International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies