[03/November/2009]  
By: Abdullah Ba-Khorisah

Translated by: Tawfiq Al-Nadhif
HADRAMOUT, Nov. 03 (Saba)- On October last year, people of Wadi Hadramout could not expect that their villages would be ravaged by floods, heavy rains continued for three nights, during which the hills poured huge quantities of water that swept everything before it.

Dark clouds without lightning or thunder loaded with heavy water started raining cats and dogs on Wednesday morning and continued like this until Friday.

The gesture of fear and horror was notable on the faces of Wadi Hadramout citizens, and particularly when they heard bad news saying that a heavy flood never seen before was coming and would reach them.

Citizens were waiting cautiously, while torrent swept everything in its way, until it reached the end of Wadi Hadhramaut. It left lot of disasters, damages, paints and painful memories behind, where few people dead and thousands of displaced families and hundreds of destroyed houses were recorded in the valley of Hadhramaut and Shabwa province.

Saeed Omar Ammar, from the directorate of Alqatt says: "Compensations, especially for families that completely affected, are just rumors for the media propose only, citizens did not get anything until now.

Adding that the work level of the Reconstruction Committee, at the valley of Hadhramaut, is very weak despite the big support and aid offered by the friendly countries, calling the Committee to distribute the aids to people who were totally affected by the disaster, in order to build new houses as drawn by the local authorities in this regard."


Salem Ali Al-Tamimi from Alsoom directorate says: "Here we have finished almost all issues regarding the people affected by floods, which left 26 houses completely destroyed, and approximately 33 houses are no longer fit to live in.

The affected people received aid from the various associations after they moved to schools. Aids included food, blankets and other materials, but after that the families had to leave the schools because the students will back to school.

The Government promised them that it will continue its contact with the charitable associations to pay rent of the tents, some people supported by the associations, and others rented houses without any assistance from any organization or authority ". Member of Local Council in Trim directorate, Saeed Obaid Rbihan said.

Executive Director of the Reconstruction Fund of Hadramaut and Mahara Abdullah Mohammed said that the field team has ended aid distribution of the partly affected people in the districts of Wadi Hadramout that cost YR. 44 millions, benefiting 156 affected in each of the directorates of the Wadi Alain and Hawrah, Alqattn, Tarim and the Alsoom. "

He added that the Fund plans to sign financing contracts in the next few days for 46 cases which were totally affected in the directorates of Alqattn, Alsoom and Shibam with a total cost of YR.88 million.

Tarim is one of the most cities and regions affected by the floods and it suffers from the same problems like the other cities, but the government paid great efforts to facilitate the grant of the United Arab of Emirates.

On the other hand, the Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Mansour Alhawshabi together with the Deputy Governor of Hadramout for the valley and the desert affairs, Omair Mubarak, recently visited the city of Tarim.

They distributed new beehives for a number of beekeepers affected by the floods in Tarim directorate where more than 11000 bee farmers were affected by the floods in the valley of Hadramout.

The Rehabilitation Project of Bees Production funded by the Islamic Bank for Development.

Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation pointed out that US$ 15 million were allocated for the agricultural sector's damages in the provinces of Hadramout and Mahra, and the ministry has completed all studies that identify the size of damages caused by the floods there.

Saba