Attachments
Date of event 2024-03-03
What happened, where and when?
An uncharacteristically late winter season impacted multiple provinces across Afghanistan, resulting in heavy snowfall and extreme cold temperatures, prompting responses from the authorities and other actors. The Afghan Red Crescent, in response to the situation, convened an Emergency Task Force Meeting on 3 March 2024 to present findings from their rapid assessments and to discuss possible interventions with the support of in-country partners. From the reports, it was apparent that several high-altitude provinces suffered casualties, heavy losses of livestock, blocked roads, and disruption to economic activities, among other impacts.
Subsequent and more detailed assessments confirmed the true scale of the impact wrought by the event, with the National Disaster Organization reporting that as many as 325,205 people were affected across at least 18 provinces, and thousands of livestock perished, significantly affecting households and livelihoods. The provinces most affected include Badakhshan, Badghis, Balkh, Farah, Faryab, Ghor, Herat, Jawzjan, Kunduz, Nuristan, Nangarhar, Sar-e-Pul, Uruzgan, and Zabul.
The March 2024 event is almost reminiscent of the cold wave of January 2023 in terms of scale, but the impacts are considered more severe. According to ECHO, temperatures plummeted to as low as -33 degrees in provinces like Ghor, and over 70,000 cattle perished across several provinces, also causing 70 deaths. The event doubly impacted the province of Nuristan, which was still recovering from the ravages of a landslide triggered by heavy snowfall, which claimed as many as 25 lives, destroyed 20 homes, and displaced 350 households.
The humanitarian needs remain significant and will require long-term interventions to strengthen the resilience of communities, particularly in the areas of Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction.