STORY: Survivors in north Afghanistan floods waiting for aid to recover
SHOOTING TIME: May 13, 2024
DATELINE: May 16, 2024
LENGTH: 00:03:04
LOCATION: BORKA, Afghanistan
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the flood-hit area in Borka District of Baghlan Province
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Dari): NAQIBULLAH, Resident, Borka district of Baghlan province
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Dari): QAHAR, Resident, Baghlan-e-Markazi district of Baghlan province
4. various of the flood-hit area in Baghlan-e-Marzaki District of Baghlan Province
5. SOUNDBITE 3 (Dari): NAQIBULLAH, Resident, Borka district of Baghlan province
6. SOUNDBITE 4 (Dari): QAHAR, Resident, Baghlan-e-Markazi district of Baghlan province

STORYLINE:

More than 330 people have been killed as heavy downpours and floods lashed Afghanistan on Friday last week, according to the World Food Programme and local Afghan officials.

Most victims were in north Afghanistan's Baghlan province.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Dari): NAQIBULLAH, Resident, Borka district of Baghlan province
"There were 22 families in the village with a mosque. Our house was here, and everything was turned to ruin. Ten people were killed in our village, three of them from my family and the remaining from our neighbors. We (the survivors) fled to the mountain and took refuge there."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Dari): QAHAR, Resident, Baghlan-e-Markazi district of Baghlan province
"Virtually, the flood was like a devil that devoured everything including the trees and houses. It killed several persons in the village. And we climbed to the mountain to survive."

Scores of the flood-hit families have been living in the hilltops or with relatives to survive the aftermath of the floods.
   
Despite their dire circumstances, male members of these families scoured the flood-destroyed areas, searching for belongings and the bodies of their loved ones.
   
Naqibullah, a survivor of the flood in Borka district of Baghlan, estimated the cost of rebuilding a house to be more than 1 million afghanis (about 13,900 U.S. dollars), a staggering sum for those impoverished families left with nothing in the wake of the flood.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Dari): NAQIBULLAH, Resident, Borka district of Baghlan province
"The government has to pay attention to our plight. We need a plan to live. The floods have washed away what we had."

SOUNDBITE 4 (Dari): QAHAR, Resident, Baghlan-e-Markazi district of Baghlan province
"No one has assisted us, the women are living in the open ground, there is no tent and no one has assisted."

Global charity Save the Children said Monday that some 40,000 children have lost their homes in Baghlan province during this round of devastating floods.
   
The natural disaster has destroyed thousands of acres of agricultural farms and gardens and killed thousands of cattle.

Provincial Director for Information and Culture Mawlawi Mustafa Hashimi said the administration would assist the flood-affected families with the least possible delay.
   
Afghanistan is among the most vulnerable countries to climate change. It has been experiencing a rise in extreme weather conditions, including floods and drought, according to the United Nations.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Borka, Afghanistan.
(XHTV)