Ethiopia: Flash Update #3 - Update on Landslide in Gofa Zone, South Ethiopia Region (as of 26 July 2024)

This update is prepared by UNOCHA with the support and collaboration of IASC cluster coordinators and partners. Further updates will be provided, as needed. Boundaries, names and designations of districts/zones indicated in the narration in the report do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations. Please contact ocha-ethcommunication@un.org for any comment or question you may have on this publication.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The number of displaced populations currently stands at 596 as per the Emergency Coordination Center (ECC), up from 125 reported yesterday.
• More than 5,600 vulnerable individuals are targeted for immediate evacuation to safe spaces.
• The National Emergency Coordination Center held its first meeting today, 26 July.
• The ECC will start producing weekly updates on response efforts.

SITUATION OVERVIEW

The situation in the landslide-affected Gezei Gofa Woreda of Gofa Zone, South Ethiopia Region is very dynamic. Response and dispatch of aid supplies continue, while search and rescue efforts are still looking for missing people, although hopes to find survivors is withering. There are significant challenges to physically access the affected areas given heavy rains and difficult landscape.

The National Emergency Coordination Center (NECC) held its first meeting today, 26 July, to discuss new findings now that a woreda-level ECC is established in Sawla Town, and an inter-agency team is on the ground. The initial estimates of the impact of the landslide in terms of casualty and number of people displaced and affected are being verified by the teams on the ground to inform resource allocation and targeting. Accordingly, at least 183 deaths have so far been confirmed by the ECC of the 257 initially reported at the onset of the crisis by local authorities. Amongst the dead are 30 pregnant and lactating women and one child under five years of age.

The number of displaced populations currently stands at 596 as per the ECC, up from the 125 reported yesterday. Similarly, of the more than 15,000 people affected reported by local authorities, the ECC will be targeting more than 5,600 most vulnerable individuals for immediate evacuation to safe spaces, but this number is expected to increase as the situation develops. Of these, more than 1,300 children under five years and 427 pregnant and lactating women are in critical need of nutrition support. The relocation plan being finalized by the Government also includes rehabilitation elements, including temporary shelters in relocation areas while sustainable shelter solutions are sought.

Other landslide incidents, albeit at a lower scale, have been reported in other parts of southern Ethiopia as well as in Oromia recently.

Moving forward, all communication on the humanitarian situation and ongoing response to the landslide emergency will be communicated through a weekly public update to be produced by the ECC.