Attachments
A. Situation Analysis
Description of the disaster
From 26 to 27 August 2019, Guidimakha Wilaya (Region), located in southeast Mauritania, witnessed torrential rains exceeding the 200 mm mark in the regional capital city of Sélibaby and which approached 300 mm in other areas of the region. These torrential rains caused heavy human and material damages in all three districts of the Wilaya namely Sélibaby, Ould Yenja and Ghabou. In Sélibaby city, important damages were noted on houses, road market, water-supply infrastructure, and general infrastructure. Households' food stocks were washed away, etc.
Ten 10 over the 23 districts of Sélibaby region were affected by the floods at varying degrees. According to the latest information, a total of 4,200 households were affected including 850 homeless households. Census and assessment commissions have been set up by administrative authorities in the 3 departments of the region. Mauritania Red Crescent (MRC)’s volunteers have actively participated in this departmental assessment especially in the city of Sélibaby. Volunteers in this locality estimated that 1,200 households have been affected by the floods in the city.
Data provided by the regional hospital authorities in Sélibaby have revealed that the floods caused deaths of a baby, adolescents and one woman. The causes of the deaths include drowning and buildings collapse. Additionally, water and electricity supplying services were out of order for several hours. Faced with such disastrous situation, Sélibaby inhabitants and authorities requested assistance and confirmed that the municipality was devastated by heavy rains, appealing the Mauritanian Government and national and international civil society organizations to urgently take action to assist them.
In the two other moughataas (districts) of the region, precisely Ould Yenja and Ghabou, there were important damages which have affected many people. Various commissions have been set up by the Hakem (the city’s commissionerof) each moughataa to assess the needs and the exact number of affected households. Houses in Samba Kandji area have been completely destroyed. In Khachbaye commune 76 households are homeless and are currently hosted in schools and mosques. In Hassi Chegar area 70 houses were destroyed and most of the cattle drift away.
In Sélibaby, 3 schools have been flooded. The walls of one of them collapsed. Localities along the river side have been also threatened by the overflow of water, namely in Ghabou Commune. Health facilities are operational except for Ould Mboni area. A Governmental delegation headed by the Minister of Interior went to Sélibaby on Tuesday 27 August 2019. A construction company (ATTM) team was part of the visit and reopened the road to Sélibaby, which was blocked since Sunday 01 September 2019 (due to the collapse of a dam located at 18 km from Sélibaby). A crisis committee chaired by the Wali (Governor) and Hakem was set up on Tuesday, 27 August 2019, with the participation of national and international NGOs and the Mauritanian Red Crescent (MRCS) to assess the needs. Sélibaby has also been divided into two zones: East and West. The commission has set up two teams of 6 people each tasked to undertake households visits to identify the material and human damages, affected households and populations’ in immediate needs.
Humanitarian actors held a meeting in Nouakchott on Thursday, 29 August 2019, to discuss the situation. They agreed to meet with authorities to support them in finalizing the current needs assessment. The National Office of Meteorology had warned the population of some regions, especially those of southern and eastern Mauritania, including Guidimakha, about some potential heavy rains in the regions, urging populations to be cautious and to strictly comply with safety instructions pertaining to this type of disaster to be able to mitigate potential risks. After 15 days, the region is still affected by stagnant waters creating additional risks (hydric diseases and collapsing for precarious houses caused by infiltration of water in the foundations).