Windstorm rips through tents of displaced Baghlan families

PUL-I-KHUMRI (Pajhwok): Heavy windstorm has uprooted 150 tents of displaced families in Guzargah Noor district of northern Baghlan province.

In April 2014, at least 72 persons including women and children were killed and 1,200 families displaced as a result of floods triggered by heavy rains in Guzargah Noor district.

At that time, the Norwegian Refugees Council (NRC) distributed 650 tents to the affected families.

The residents said that tents of 150 families had been destroyed by a hurricane, forcing families to stay nights under the open sky.

Mohammad Ewaz, a tribal chief in the Miana village of the district, told Pajhwok Afghan News the storm began on Sunday and continued till midnight.

The windstorm left the metallic roofs of some tents completely damaged while a number of other tents torn apart by the wind.

Most of the affected families were living with their relatives, he said, demanding authorities to help families repair their tents.

Bibi Gul, an affected woman, said she was displaced as a result of last year’s floods and the tents her family resolved their housing problem to some extent. But now the tent they were living in were completely in last night’s storm.

District Chief Abdul Khalil Rahimi said the windstorm inflicted no human casualties and the affected families were shifted to safe areas.

However, Nasir Kahzad, director Natural Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said the issue had been brought into the notice of NRC and the aid organization had pledged to repair the damaged tents.

mds/rm