Flash floods destroy 220 homes, leave 24 people dead, Afghanistan

A new wave of heavy rainfall and flash floods hit parts of Afghanistan over the past couple of days.

Kabul, Parwan, Ghour, Herat, Bamyan and Ghazni were among the worst affected. Over 500 people were rescued in Bamyan province.

At least 24 people have been killed, 11 were injured and 550 affected, authorities said.

220 houses have been destroyed and 116 partly damaged, DG ECHO reported.

At the beginning of March, heavy rainfall and floods hit central, southern and western regions of the country, killing at least 70 people by March 13.

The provinces of Helmand, Zabul, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Herat and Farah, also affected by a five-year drought, were particularly impacted. Another seven provinces were hit by snowfall, avalanches and mudslides.

More than 16 000 houses were swept away and 8 670 damaged with approximately 250 000 people affected.

Kandahar received 97 mm (3.81 inches) of rain in just 30 hours on March 1 and 2, more than 4 months' worth of its average rainfall.  This region has a desert climate with about 176 mm (6.92 inches) of rain in an entire year.

January is the region's wettest month with about 62 mm (2.44 inches) of rain, followed by February with 43 mm (1.69 inches), and March and December with 21 mm (0.82 inches). Other months receive between 0 and 4 mm (0.15 inches) of rain.

Featured image credit: Himalayan Videos Channel