Heavy snow left major damage to Parwan Province

The heavy snow on February 4, 2017 affected many people in Parwan Province.
On February 8, the disaster control office of Afghanistan's government and the governor of Parwan Province called an urgent meeting. 

Officers from each governmental office and international support organizations including JEN attended the meeting.  The head of the disaster prevention office chaired the meeting and reported an overview of the damage to the attendees as follows.

[Meeting with the Head of the National Disaster Control Office and relevant organizations]

The first reports of damage were received from each province.  16 people were reported dead (14 from Puli Sangi village in Surkhi Parsa and 2 from Sia Gird), 13 people injured, 400 houses completely or partially-destroyed, and 347 livestock perished in many places throughout the province. 

The report was provided orally and the chair called for international support organizations and officers from the province to undertake further investigation. The IOM (the International Organization for Migration) and the WFP (the World Food Programme) agreed to provide both non-food items and food to disaster-hit households. 

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC), the NGO, and the national disaster control office announced that they would provide money to households with injured or missing family members. 

JEN agreed to send one of our staff members with a car to accompany the team when they conduct further investigations in the provinces of Charikar, Bagram, Sayed Khil, Jabul Saraj, and Salang.

The investigation in 9 districts in Barwan Province was headed by the IOM, and 5 teams, comprising NGOs, the national disaster control office, and other governmental bodies, were assigned to conduct an investigation from February 9 to February 13.

Through research, our team found that a total of 10 houses were completely destroyed and 34 houses were partially destroyed in the provinces of Charikar, Jabul Salaj, Bagram, and Sayed Khil.

JEN and other NGOs were unable to conduct any investigations in Surkhi Parsa and Sia Gird due to safety reasons, so the national disaster control office and the International Committee of the Red Cross did so instead. Also, investigations in Salang were delayed due to a blocked road caused by heavy snow.

During our work, we interviewed Mr. Wali Ahmad, one of the victims. His house had two rooms and a kitchen, but the heavy snow damaged one of the rooms and the kitchen.

Mr. Ahmad has a family of 10, so one room is not enough for all the family members to sleep.  He said it was difficult to repair the damage immediately because of the bad weather.  Also, he could not afford to rebuild the room so he asked the NGO for help.

[Mr. Ahmad Wali's house, damaged by the heavy snow in Charikar province]

After looking in his house, the DRC approved the building of two rooms, a kitchen, and a shelter with toilet for Mr. Wali's family when the winter is over.

[Mr. Ahmad Wali's kitchen, damaged by the heavy snow]

According to the report, the ministry of national disaster control management began offering non-food items, food, and money to affected households in disaster-hit provinces.

Mohamed Yunus,

Engineer,

JEN Afghanistan


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