The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that agricultural materials are urgently needed to avert food shortages in a flood-stricken province in Congo-Kinshasa.
In its latest situation report on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, OCHA says that a joint mission which had gone to assess the damage and needs in the flood-affected Province Orientale has completed the preparation for its report.

According to the mission, the worst phase of the floods is considered to be over, with the river levels decreasing.

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Coordinating Office

Appeal

Democratic Republic Of Congo (Formerly Zaire)
Congo Flood Emergency - AFDC81

Appeal Target: $ 200,000 ( $103,072 Raised/Pledged To Date )

Geneva, 03 February 1998

Dear Colleagues,

Congolese authorities have apparently known for a long time about the cholera problem at the Kapalata military camp in Kisangani according to an ACP report of January 20. Informed sources in the health ministry reportedly told ACP that cholera was detected at the camp in mid-October 1997, when an abnormally high number of cases of suspicious cholera diarrhea were seen at the camp, which is home mostly to former Zairean soldiers and Mai-Mai fighters who came over to the government's side. ACP reported that 1,054 cases were observed during

DHAGVA - 98/0107
SITUATION UPDATES:

1. The unsettled state of the weather, which affected other countries in the region (e.g., Somalia and Kenya) in the last two months, has reached the northern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This resulted in very high water levels in the Congo River and its tributaries (Aruwimi, Tshopo, Lomami, and Lulu) and caused considerable damage to housing and crops in Kisangani as well as in an yet unknown number of villages, some of which are only accessible by boat. The region has experienced similar disasters in the past (in 1962 and 1979).

UNDP has made available US$200,000 for coordination of relief and logistical support following flooding and an outbreak of cholera in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Torrential rains hit the country last week flooding the provincial capital of Kinsangani, affecting nearly 14,000 people and destroying 1,500 homes. An outbreak of cholera has been reported at the Kapalata military camp near Kisangani, which houses about 6,000 soldiers. The government, supported by UNDP, other UN agencies and international organizations, is evaluating the damage caused by the flooding.

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS
The World Food Programme has sent three tonnes of food to the people who have been affected by floods in Province Orientale in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

According to the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Kinshasa, the country's capital, the level of the Congo River, which had risen due to recent torrential rains, is now decreasing in Kisangani.

The rains caused floods which destroyed eighty per cent of houses in the few villages along the river visited so far by relief workers. In Isangi, where the Congo and Lomami Rivers converge,

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I. SITUATION

1. According to latest information from the UN Resident Coordinator at Kinshasa, the stricken population is estimated at around 10,000 to 14,000, 9,000 of whom in Kisangani. 1,500 houses were damaged or destroyed in Kisangani.

2. These figures take into account only reachable areas and villages. Only a few of the affected villages have, so far, been visited. At present, it is not possible to provide an accurate number of the affected population.

3. According to latest reports, Mbandaka,

As anticipated, the flood waters on the Congo River that have plagued Kisangani in the east have now made their way to Mbandaka and Kinshasa in the west according to an ACP release of December 31. The ACP report also indicated that the United States has provided $25,000 to help people in Kisangani and the World Food Program has provided some three tons of high energy biscuits. The Kabila government in Kinshasa appears to be continuing to play its coordination and monitoring role but is itself not providing any direct assistance, instead reliant on outside