Seven dead in Sierra Leone floods

Seven people have died and more than 8,000 have been made homeless after torrential rain in Sierra Leone caused massive floods, officials said.

"We can confirm the death of seven people, with 8,000 people severely affected by the flooding in Freetown and other parts of the country since last Friday," John Vandy, director of the Disaster Management Office in the National Security Office told AFP on Wednesday.

"The majority of the flood victims are from slum communities and swampy areas," Vandy said.

The government is working with development partners to assess the damage and offer relief, with more heavy rain forecast.

The authorities have urged people to leave flood-prone areas in Freetown after reports of a minor mudslide in an area where more than 1,100 people died in a landslip in 2017.

Residents of UK town threatened with flood return to homes
London (AFP) Aug 7, 2019 - Residents evacuated last week from an English town threatened with flooding after a nearby reservoir partially collapsed were allowed to return to their homes on Wednesday, police said.

More than 1,500 people had been evacuated from the Derbyshire town of Whaley Bridge after part of the dam wall of the Toddbrook Reservoir disintegrated Thursday following heavy rain.

Hundreds of emergency workers had since worked around the clock to pump water out of the reservoir to ease pressure on the wall.

A military Chinook helicopter also dropped hundreds of tonnes of stone and gravel in sacks to shore up the damaged portion.

"The hard work and dedication to achieve this has been quite simply incredible and means that I am now able to lift the evacuation order placed on Whaley Bridge and the surrounding area," Deputy Chief Constable Rachel Swann said in a statement from Derbyshire Police.

"The danger posed by the millions of tonnes of water, which would have destroyed homes and livelihoods, could not be underestimated," she added.

Swann said further work would be completed by Britain's Environment Agency to assess the extent of the damage caused to the dam wall and what action would be required.

Residents had been forced to spend nearly a week away from their homes and were only allowed back briefly over the weekend to collect essential items.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited the area on Friday, where he said the 180-year-old dam would require a "major rebuild", while opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also paid a visit Monday.

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12 killed as flooding paralyses Pakistan's Karachi
Karachi (AFP) July 31, 2019
At least 12 people were killed as monsoon rains lashed Pakistan's port city of Karachi, officials and charity groups confirmed Wednesday, while flooding also triggered power outages and overwhelmed the metropolis's fragile infrastructure. Authorities said the deaths occurred largely due to electrocutions caused by ill-maintained power lines even as large segments of the city suffered hours-long outages that lasted up to a day in some areas. According to the Edhi Foundation - which oversees a va ... read more