UNICEF Afghanistan Flash Update #2: Central, Eastern, and Northern Regions Flash Floods

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Highlights

• On 20 July, heavy rainfall triggered flash floods across several provinces in central, northern and eastern Afghanistan.
• In the eastern region (ER), Parun district, Nuristan Province, was the most impacted. Preliminary reports indicate 23 fatalities (26 per cent women and 74 per cent men) and 125 injuries (7 per cent women and 93 per cent men), with additional individuals still missing. The floods destroyed and damaged 92 houses, affected a health clinic and markets, disrupted livelihoods, and damaged critical infrastructure, including bridges, roads, flood protection walls, agricultural land and water supply networks, disrupting access to safe drinking water.
• In the central region (CR), flash floods across nine provinces resulted in two deaths and four injuries. A total of 306 houses were affected, impacting 1,917 people (613 girls, 556 boys, 389 women, and 359 men). Approximately 1.6 million square meters of agricultural land were destroyed, around 300 livestock killed, and 11 schools sustained damage.
• In the northern region (NR), flash floods were reported in Shughnan and Maimai districts of Badakhshan province during the same period. Floods caused damages to schools, 428,000 square meters of cultivated agricultural land, killing livestock, and damaging critical infrastructure, including bridges and water mills.
• Recent flash floods may have displaced explosive ordnance (EO) or exposed previously buried hazards, increasing risks to affected communities and humanitarian personnel.

Author(s)

UNICEF Afghanistan