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Soukhouma District, Champasak Province - World Vision is responding to flooding in the southern part of Laos, where heavy rains have wreaked havoc on some 53,000 people in 56 villages.
After the Khamouan River’s banks burst in Soukhouma District, two-metre deep water submerged people’s homes, shops, and schools.
“I felt my body get wet and then I woke up. I saw the water up high, inside my house,” says Kone, a mother of six. “I woke up my children and wanted to move to another place, but we did not have a boat.”
Kone’s home was destroyed in the floods, along with many others. She was able to move her children to safety after a neighbour offered to help them escape the rising waters.
For many, the flooding left them isolated, without access to the most basic needs.
“We don’t have a place to go to the toilet or water to take a bath. We have only a small amount of rice and no water to drink,” says Noy, a nine-year-old boy.
World Vision has launched a USD 130,000 response in partnership with the district and provincial governments.
“We’re providing food – rice and fish – and water to meet immediate needs,” says Amelia Merrick, World Vision Lao PDR National Director. “Our response team is travelling by boat to reach the affected communities, and seeing scenes of desperation.”
Thousands of hectares of rice paddies have been destroyed and countless livestock drowned. Merrick says farming families have an uncertain year ahead as the main crops they depend on for their annual food supply are gone, just a few weeks before the rice harvest.
“In addition to the severe adverse impacts to livelihoods, the flooding has also impacted water supplies, eliminated immediate food sources, created an environment for increased health risks, and caused increased risks for children,” Merrick added.
World Vision will continue to work alongside the local government to develop plans to help families further recover from this situation.
For more information, please contact:
ALBERT YU
Communications Director – World Vision East Asia Region
phone: +66 81 869 6570
email: albert_yu@wvi.org
