Concern for flood affected
APEED’s supporters are concerned for those in Benin who have been affected by the worst flood since 1963.
Care International made the following statement on the disaster, 21 October 2010 :
“Fifty-one out of 77 communes in the country are affected. Even the floods of 1963, which remain in the memories as the worst disaster that Benin has ever known, did not cause as much destruction as this year’s floods.
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“All the elders agree that they have never seen such flooding,” said Rotimy Djossaya, Country Director of CARE Benin. “Yet the information has not resonated in the international community. It seems that despite the extraordinary devastation caused by this year’s floods, people think it is simply the annual flooding season.”
Zones that were previously not considered vulnerable to flooding have been devastated, like the village of Kopto, which was completely wiped away (commune of Zangnanado in the centre of the country). In villages along rivers and lakes, thousands of people continue to live in huts built of fragile material, submerged for weeks under up to two metres of water.
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Sanitation is a major concern, and all eyes are trained on the disturbing number of cholera cases that continue to rise. Homeless people have taken refuge in health centres, paralyzing access to medical care in situation that lends itself to a potential outbreak of water-borne disease: latrines are flooded, sending human waste into water used for drinking, cooking and bathing, and people have little or no access to safe drinking water. About 800 cases of cholera have been reported to date, including 51 in Cotonou, and the number is rising daily.”