Hunt for Ethiopia flood survivors

Homes were destroyed and cattle swept away in floods in the south

Search and rescue teams are scouring flood waters in southern Ethiopia as bad weather continues to hamper a round-the-clock hunt for survivors.

The number of deaths has risen to 364 after the Omo river and tributaries burst their banks - with fears the toll countrywide could now top 800.

Local Ethiopian officials are appealing for assistance saying they cannot cope with the scale of the flooding.

A southern relief official told the BBC that at least 6,000 were at risk.

Disaster co-ordinator in the Omo region, Deftalgne Tessema, told the BBC's Network Africa programme that despite help from the federal government and the UN, so far just 14 motorboats were trying to evacuate people from islands cut off by the swollen waters.

"The boats very small. We are trying our best," he said

Hunt

"The search and rescue teams have spent the night on the waters looking for survivors and bodies," Omo police chief Tegaye Mununhe told AFP news agency.

"The search will continue day and night. We are now dispatching more boats with food, medicine, tents and health workers to evaluate the situation in places we have managed to reach," he said.

Insp Daniel Gezahenge told AP news agency that the situation in the south was "getting out of control". There are fears of a deadly cholera outbreak.

"We are preparing ourselves for up to 1,000 dead bodies from this flood alone. We need additional helicopters and boats for rescuing," he said.

"There are dead bodies and animals in the water making the likelihood for a disease outbreak very high," Insp Daniel said.

Flooding often hits low-lying parts of Ethiopia between June and September, when heavy showers fall on dry regions.

But correspondents say the situation is much worse this year.

Disaster zone

In the far north, thousands of people in Tigray province are battling floods along the Tekezie river.

In the eastern city of Dire Dawa, local and international agencies are still providing food and help to thousands of people and to communities further north along the Awash river.

Many small farmers in Ethiopia face both floods and drought

The national rescue services including the army and international agencies are said to be overstretched.

The authorities in Dire Dawa have declared the area a disaster zone.

There are 256 confirmed deaths from last week's flooding, but some 250 people are still missing and 10,000 were displaced.

The UN's World Food Programme is distributing relief supplies there.

Over the past two years flooding has afflicted several areas of eastern and southern Ethiopia, killing hundreds and displacing hundreds of thousands.

Weather forecasters say heavier than usual rains are expected in the coming weeks across much of Ethiopia.

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