MPs from areas ravaged by floods and landslides have warned of imminent famine and outbreak of waterborne diseases.

Bududa district Woman MP Justine Khainza, Labor MP Michael Ayepa and MP Samson Lokeris of Dodoth East in Kaabong district asked the Government to continue providing support to families.

"Government should avail emergency funding to provide essential household items, emergency medical services and water treatment to affected communities," Lokeris said.

Meanwhile, Khainza objected to the Government's plans to relocate some of the affected people in Bududa to Kiryandongo, saying transplanting people was affecting their culture.

"Let the Government buy land within the Elgon region to settle people in landslide prone-areas. This must be done without delay," she said.

The Uganda Red Cross Society on Saturday concluded distributing relief items to 8,424 landslide survivors in Bulambuli. People displaced by floods in Mbale, Bulambuli and Kween districts also received the relief items. In Mbale, 225 flood victims in Nakoloke sub-county got the items. A total of 1,320 people in Ngenge sub-county, Kween district were also aided. The relief items included 2,544 bars of soap, 854 jerricans of cooking oil, 1,178 mosquito nets, 2,356 water purification tablets, 756 tarpaulins, 4,820 cups, 3,875 plates 1,767 blankets and 750 cooking pots. According to Red Cross official Kevin Nabutuwa both the affected and host families received the donation.

Bulambuli district council has resolved to relocate about 50,000 victims of landslides that occurred in the district last month due to heavy rains.

The district Vice Chairman LC V, James Omalu says that some victims have been sent to the proposed land of relocation in Kiryandongo district for orientation before taking the whole group.

Last month, about 20 people in Bulambuli district died after they were buried by mudslides from top of Mt. Elgon.

The district council speaker, Jalia Wadada says that most victims are willing to relocate to Kiryandongo. She however says that some people living in the landslide-prone areas are still hesitant to relocate.

Ms. Wadada says that the victims are badly in need of aid in form of food and clothes adding that the roads linking to some affected areas are still impassable as they have been covered with mud and debris.

In March 2010, about 300 people on Mt. Elgon, Budada district lost their lives due to the landslides that had also been caused by heavy downpour. A number of victims were sent to Kiryandongo and some are still there up to now.

[Excerpt from letter to the editor]

Many 'natural' disasters we see happening, today including the Bulambuli landslides are a result of many factors - national, regional and global, which include several years of environmental degradation such as massive tree cutting, clearing of vegetation and wetlands, poor agricultural practices, settlement on steep slopes, fast population growth, climate change, etc. While not everybody is to blame for the gradual destruction of the environment which now manifests in form of landslides, windstorms, floods, etc; when it comes to restoration of the environment, we all have responsibility and it cannot be done overnight.

Knowing that landslides are a sudden-on-set disaster which does not allow the at-risk-population to escape, the Nema Act requires one to get a written permit and guidance from the District Environment Officer in order to carry out any activity or settlement on the mountainous slopes of 15 degrees and beyond. Almost all people living on the slopes of Mt. Elgon do not have the permits.

Good environmental practices are the ultimate solution to the escalating landslides. If people practiced good terracing, maintained tree cover and if people avoided clearing vegetation near steep cliffs, they can sustainably live safely on some parts of the mountains.

Joint prayers were conducted at cchurch as the death toll from the landslides reached 27. A devastating mudslide on Monday morning buried 9 homes in Sisi sub-county killing most of the occupants.

The mudslide which occurred after heavy down pour also destroyed crops, blocked roads and cut off electricity supply to several trading centres in the district.

A resident of Kibanda trading centre which is about 200 meters a way from the landslide seen, Simon Maleza says local defense unit personnel played a big role in the rescue effort.

Maleza adds that the LD Us? alerted them early Monday morning that disaster had struck the area and asked them to help in recovery efforts.

Among the dead were Jasper Masiga, David Musiku, Docus Zemu, Angela Nabukundi, Gertrude Nandutu, Alex Nanoga, Beatrice Nanoga, Rachael Wanyenze, Christine Nabugosi, Lovizi Masiga, Dezire Nanyenze, Wanazofu and Louise Masiga.

The Uganda Red Cross Society says 1348 people have been displaced by the Bulambuli land slide.

The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) has started opening up Bulago Road in Sisiyi sub-county, Bulambuli district that was closed following the August 29 landslides that killed 27 people.

A large mass of soil and rocks had poured onto the road in Mabono parish. A grader that had initially been taken to open up the road broke down.

Two others were then ferried in. Although the road has been opened, it is still very muddy and thus not usable.

Bulago Road is a murrum stretch that starts from the Sironko-Kapchorwa highway at Bukhalu sub-county and runs through Kamu trading centre, Bulegeni town council Sisiyi Buginyaya Bulago and Musira sub-counties before connecting back to the highway.

The destruction of the road mainly affected coffee farmers in Buginyanya, Masira and Sisiyi sub-counties as they could not move their produce to the markets.

Passenger vehicles and trucks no longer use the route. The blockage had also cut off Buginyaya Coffee Research Centre located on Butandiga hill in Masira sub-county.

Meteorological officials in Uganda are warning of tough times ahead for farmers and populations living in mountainous areas as flash flooding is set to continue.

�More rains are expected and we are seeing it [is] intense in some parts of the country,� said Paul Isabirye, assistant commissioner for data processing and applied meteorology.

Several districts in eastern, western, central, north-western and north-eastern parts of the country have been severely affected by heavy rain, which has cut off roads, washed away fields of crops and caused fatal landslides.

�Government should plan to evacuate people in these areas,� said Michael Nkalubo, a commissioner at the meteorological department.

While pastoralists in the north-eastern Karamoja region celebrate the rain, which will bring pasture for their animals, farmers are mourning the loss of their harvests because of heavy downpours.

�All my crops are gone; I planted an acre [0.4 hectares] of soya beans with maize in the hope that I would get some money when they mature, but the rain flooded the garden,� said Latang Odel.

Peter Ken Lochap, chairman of Karamoja�s Moroto District, said the rain had rendered much of the region inaccessible by road. �Karamoja is prone to hunger so in this case when the rain is causing flooding it�s a bad sign that next year hunger will be there again.�

The worst affected areas include Rupa, Napak, Patany and mountainous areas of Moroto.

The rains have remained stable in the north-central Acholi region, and agriculturalists there are calling on the government to provide support to farmers before the second planting season ends.

�Farmers need assistance in the form of short-term maturing seeds so that they can have something in the second season,� said Alabi Ajavu, agriculture production coordinator for Moyo district in the West Nile region.

The impact of climate change that is causing heavy destructive rain that has seen the people of Bulambali, Teso, Mpigi and Kampala suffer from floods is directly rooted in natural resource management by both citizens and government. [....] This year alone, coffee prices, especially the hot-selling Arabica premium, rose by 12.5 per cent in the first quarter of the year. However, due to poor land use that resulted in the landslide, the people of Bugisu cannot meet the increase in demand and benefit from the coffee price increase. [....] Some of the coffee producers have become a problem to the government � they are resettled in Kiryandongo District. [....] It is said since the 1990s, nearly a third of Uganda�s forest cover has been lost due to settlement and farmland. The proposal to give away 7,100 hectares (17,537 acres) of Mabira Forest land for sugarcane growing is further evidence of the threat forests in the country face. [....] Mabira Forest is important for the existence of Lake Victoria, the river system, the wildlife and the entire ecosystem it supports. esides, the forest is a source of rain for agriculture, which is a dominant activity in its neighbourhood. [....] Lake Victoria, for instance, is slowly but surely losing its status as the biggest fresh water lake in the region. According to the Ministry of Water and Environment, the cost of treating water has become more expensive than ever before. Treatment now requires more sophisticated technology hence the diversion of funds that would have been used for increasing clean water supply to urban centres. At one time, it was reported that the urban dwellers were consuming faeces in their water, something which is a threat to their health and lives. [....]

[....] Ms Irene Muloni, who visited Kumuli and Mabono in Bulambuli District, said land in Bwikonge and Bunambutye sub-counties has been identified for resettlement. Ms Muloni is also the Woman MP for Bulambuli. "I have seen the plight of my people because I also live here. There are very big cracks above the hills. We must relocate. These cracks signal danger for us and government should not take it lightly," she said. [....]

Tourists have shunned Mt. Elgon National Park after the August and September mudslides ravaged parts of Mt. Elgon, the park�s statistics for the months have indicated.

The Mt. Elgon visitor survey figures indicated that although August and September are peak seasons for the tourists at the mountain, groups of tourists cancelled their visits to the mountain fearing they could be victims.

�For instance at the Mt. Elgon headquarters, four international groups comprising two people in each group cancelled their trips,� said Mr Michael Mwanga, the information clerk of the national park. According to Mt. Elgon Conservation area manager, Mr Adonia Bintorwa, a total, of 10 groups comprising 46 visitors cancelled their bookings.

The report noted that most of the foreign tourists who comprise nearly 90 per cent of the park�s visitors, kept away. These include Americans, British, Germans, Dutch and Canadians. Mr Bintorwa said prominent visitors pay $500 (Shs1.4m) per person and comprise foreign students on holiday, local students, scouts and local residents.

The main tourist attractions for hikers on the mountain include the wildlife, hot springs, caves, waterfalls and the Wagagai peak that stands at 4,321 metres above sea level. Tourism, agriculture and forestry are top on the list of the national primary growth areas of the newly-released National Development Plan.

In 2008, tourism contributed 9.2 per cent($1.2b) to the GDP, while in Kenya, it brought in $3.5b or 10.8 per cent to GDP according to the World Tourism and Travel Council. The plight of at least 6,000 people living in the mudslide-prone areas remains uncertain as government insists they must move into camps as it looks for a lasting solution. Geographical experts have blamed poor farming methods and over-cultivation of land by residents on the mountain, causing it to weigh down.

The authorities have been caught unprepared yet again as floods ravage the country; it's time for long-term contingency planning [....] Sudden mudslides have added to the problems and caused additional anguish to the victims. A young lady in Uttaradit province said on TV that she was considering suicide after she saw her mother and her hard-earned, newly built house swept away by a huge mudslide. Another victim who lived nearby said that she was traumatised and decided to move away because she was too scared to return to her old neighbourhood. [....] Effective warning systems can help save lives. For example, it was not certain why the tourist who died while cycling near Eto Natural Park was not informed of the possibility of mudslides. [....] The collapse of buildings in flooded areas also shows that architects and engineers need to be aware of the vulnerability of the soil in many places in this country. The foundations of buildings and houses must be able to withstand flooding and mudslides.

.... the latest report from the department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said a total of 82 people were confirmed killed by the flash floods and landslides. /

Southerners in flood-prone areas in Satun, Trang, Songkhla and Phatthalung were also told to watch for landslides and mountain runoff over the next few days. /

KISORO district leaders had for the second day yesterday failed to reach villages in Kirundo sub-county that were devastated by landslides.

The Saturday night landslide, which followed a heavy downpour, has reportedly left three people dead. In addition, 30 houses were destroyed and about 100 families displaced.

Five of the injured were rushed to Rutaka Health Centre III. The dead, who were pupils of Kalehe Primary School, were identified as Sharon Mahoro, 9, Adrian Musaby�imaana, 13, and Denis Bagamuhunda, 7.

The affected villages included Gisharu, Bugina, Rugendabare, Kirundo and Kirwa and are located in a highly populated area with a steep terrain. [....] Gideon Ahebwa, the deputy RDC of Kisoro, described the situation as desperate because they had not reached the affected people in the hilly areas.

Kabale district

In Kabale, Kacerere parish in Bufundi sub-county was also affected by landslides.

According to the area district councillor, Adrian Tibenda, more than 30 shops were destroyed.

In addition, boulders and soil had damaged the road from Hamurwa to Kanungu, the Hamurwa LC3 chairman, James Kabatereine, said. He said the 100-metre long floating bridge required immediate repair, but there were plans to open up an alternative route.

GUATEMALA CITY�Mudslides in Guatemala killed one person and left 12 missing on Tuesday, a day after a series of earthquakes hit another region in the impoverished Central American nation, officials said.

The mudslides occurred near the small community of Santa Cruz Barillas, at an altitude of 1,500 meters (5,000 feet) near the Mexican border, some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital.

David de Leon, an emergency official, said four homes were swept away by the mud, with one person confirmed dead and 12 missing, in the latest incident provoked by heavy rains in the region.

With the rising frequency of natural disasters and load shedding, Ugandans need to adopt energy saving techniques to promote conservation and viable development, the energy minister, Irene Muloni?, has advised.

Speaking during the opening of the 7th energy efficiency exhibition at Mbale Cricket Grounds in Mbale town on Tuesday, Muloni said Uganda had a wide base of untapped clean energy and strategies that could reverse the effects of natural disasters like landslides and flooding.

The rate at which people are depleting the environment is high.

More forests are getting cut down for firewood and charcoal, yet there are cheaper alternatives like solar, energy saving stoves and biogas, she said.

If communities adopt the efficient use of energy and plant more trees, we are likely to minimise natural disasters, Muloni said.

In August, landslides killed over 29 people in Buluganya and Sisiyi sub-counties in Bulambuli district, while another landslide left three people dead in Kisoro in September.

Geological studies, sanctioned by the Office of the Prime Minister, indicate that natural disasters were on the increase due to deforestation that left bare slopes.

Whereas hydroelectricity provided clean energy, it is costly and less than 5% of Ugandans are connected to the national grid.

Heavy predawn rains caused a mudslide in the northern Guatemalan town of Santa Cruz Barillas, burying four homes and destroying the ASOBAGRI coffee co-op offices and warehouse last Tuesday.

Rescuers uncovered the bodies of fifteen villagers, including two brothers and a sister, aged between four and seven, who died when mud buried their homes. Eight co-op members were among the dead.

"Two decades of effort was lost in the blink of an eye," said Baltazar Francisco Miguel, General Manager of the ASOBAGRI coffee co-op on Monday during a Skype conversation with Ethical Bean Coffee.

The landslide, measuring 250 meters long and 200 meters high, followed four earthquakes that shook the south of the country in quick succession. Heavy rains continue to pound Barillas and townspeople fear another landslide. Businesses remain closed and total damages are estimated at roughly $3,000,000. The cost to rebuild ASOBAGRIʼs facilities is estimated at over $550,000. With a population of 127,000, the coffee co-op is one of the town's leading sources of income for the 1,200 members and 25 employees growing coffee in the surrounding foothills.

Ethical Bean Coffee is asking local roasters, Fairtrade Canada and the general public to join them in donating to the disaster relief by visiting their website at www.ethicalbean.com.

About Ethical Bean

Ethical Bean Coffee roasts only Fairtrade Certified, Organic coffee from around the world. Founded in 2003, the Vancouver, BC based company is committed to ensuring small-scale farmers receive a fair price for their efforts. Ethical Bean coffee is roasted in a carbon neutral facility where the company works from the ground up to reduce their impact on the environment.

Last year Ethical Bean launched their iPhone App allowing consumers to follow the story of their coffee from crop to cup, and the company received a nod from the queen of daytime TV when it was featured in the 2010 holiday edition of Oprah's favorite things. For more information visit www.ethicalbean.com

A Brazilian newspaper says the country is getting a late start on flood control preparations for the rainy season that starts in three months. That's despite the fact that nearly 1,000 people died in flood and mudslides in the mountains north of Rio de Janeiro in January.

O Globo? reports Monday that the federal government's main disaster prevention program has received just $36.5 million of the $163 million earmarked in the 2011 budget. And that money has gone to work contracted last year. None of it went to projects planned for 2011.

The newspaper says Rio state is also behind. It allotted $3.8 million to flood and mudslide prevention, but hasn't issued that money yet.

A couple and their four children died when a mudslide buried their home in the northwestern province of Antioquia, Colombian authorities said.

The director of a disaster response agency, John Freddy Rendon, told Caracol Radio that the mudslide buried a house in Angostura.

He said that the dead included a man, his wife and their four children, ranging in age from 6 months to 11 years.

The family died before emergency personnel could pull them from the mud, Rendon said, adding that the bodies had all been recovered.

At the end of last month, the Colombian government announced a USD 30 million contingency plan to attend to emergencies caused by the downpours expected during the September-October rainy season.

The Andean country experienced one of the longest and most damaging rainy seasons in April and May 2010 that left more than 470 people dead and 3.4 million with some kind of property damage.

Colombia has two rainy seasons annually, the first from March/April to the middle of the year and the second in September and October, but over the past 12 months the rains have not let up for long.

BANGKOK�At least four people were killed when a mudslide swept away houses in a village in northern Thailand, raising the death toll from two months of flooding to 173, the government said Wednesday.

The victims, who included a nine-year-old girl, were members of the same family whose house was destroyed in the flash floods late on Tuesday, an official at the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said.

Another man in the same village in Chiang Mai province was missing after the incident, which destroyed several other homes.

The floods, which began in the north, have hit 57 of Thailand�s 77 provinces, with 21 still waterlogged.

More than 18,000 houses have been at least partially damaged and several million acres of farmland have been inundated.

Almost 10,000 roads and 595 bridges have been damaged and more than 13.5 million cattle and poultry are reported to have died in this year�s monsoon rains, which officials have described as particularly severe.

At least four Bangkok-Chiang Mai trains were cancelled on Wednesday because the track was under water, according to the State Railway of Thailand.

Another disaster is looming in Bugisu sub-region if authorities don't act fast to relocate the population living on the slopes of Mt. Elgon. The latest survey reports issued by the National Environmental Management Authority's [NEMA] and UWA indicate that more than 200,000 people living at the slopes of the mountain are at great risk as the dead volcanic mountain has developed bigger cracks, triggered off by heavy deforestation, poor methods of farming and poor land management around the mountain.

The report indicates that deep cracks have developed above and below Tunyi Secondary School, Buluganya Secondary School, Tunyi, Sotti, Bumasobo and Buluganya Primary schools. These schools, the report warned, could be buried anytime as heavy rains continue to pound the area.

NEMA environment information systems specialist, Dr Mary Gorretti Kitutu, warned on Friday of another disaster if communities don't leave the slopes, particularly the areas where cracks have been seen deepening further. "This speedy deepening is attributed to the increased encroachment on Mt. Elgon National Park. Hundreds of people have moved up, above the ridges that form the park, encroachers have stripped the ridges bare, creating increased runoffs that are likely to result in a landslide anytime from now. There is a disaster in the waiting," said Dr Kitutu.

Dr Kitutu explains that it is poor farming methods and over-cultivation of land by residents on this mountain that is weighing down on the rocks. "The trees hold the soils together, but when you over-cultivate and not plant them, it exhumes too much clay which, when met with heavy rains, water infiltrates the clay. When it reaches down, it stagnates and causes a slide and when layers move from down, it creates tension which results in a crack on the rock," Dr Kitutu says.

Although this puts the lives of more than 4,000 primary school children and 962 students and various neighbours of the schools at risk, many people, mostly farmers of coffee and matooke, are hesitant to relocate away to safe areas in the lowlands.

The LCV chairman for Bulambuli district, Mr Simon Wananzofu, says the clearing of natural vegetation on mountains for planting crops and for settlement has made the soils loose, loosened the stones across the mountain and could slide down the valleys anytime.

"Besides the landslides in Kimuli and Buluganya that killed about 26 people, there have been other mudslides that have destroyed crops, but cracks at the hills along Mt Elgon put the lives of students, pupils from various schools and farmers in danger of mudslides anytime. Our appeal is that government helps us relocate children from these schools," said Mr. Wananzofu.

Mr Wananzofu was on Friday addressing residents of Buluganya about the dangers of living on the Mt Elgon slopes, during the delivery of relief items by Development and Relief Agency to the affected families.

Mr Buka Ajuogo, coordinator of disasters at ADRA, revealed that the organisation donated maize flour, soya booster, beans, plates, cups, blankets, tarpaulins, salt, saucepans, mosquito nets worthy Shs175 million to Bunamunane, Buluganya and Soti parishes.

"Although we are committed to giving relief as one of our missions to save humanity, we advise that people relocate from this area because there are cracks everywhere, signaling great danger in the waiting. Please let us accept to move away; mudslides should not bury us," said Mr Ajuogo.

He said people have moved up the cliffs, cut down trees, started farming along the hills leaving the soils bare, and the widening cracks indicate there is more danger in the waiting; land management has remained poor, and people must change this to escape disaster.