UN: 24 dead, 70,000 homeless in Chad flooding

Please pray for the families who have lost relatives, and the many who are trying to restore their homes, after unusually heavy rains.  There has been a company "seeding" the clouds this year in Abéché, and it is possible that the job they did was a little too good, resulting in this.

September 13, 2010 -- Updated 1434 GMT

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
    * Another 46 people are dead from cholera
    * Overall, nearly 145,000 people are affected by flooding
    * The affected areas were hit by drought last year

(CNN) -- Some 70,000 people have been left homeless by flooding triggered by heavy rains in the central African nation of Chad, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Sunday.

Twenty-four people have been killed and 29 others injured, said Ute Kollies, head of the office's branch in Chad. Forty-six others have died from cholera that broke out in the wake of the floods. Some 700 people are suffering from cholera, she said.

Overall, nearly 145,000 people in Chad have been affected by the flooding, and that number is rising, she said.

"Today is the worst, and it's getting more and more out of hand," she said. "This is the crisis point, at the moment."

Flooding has affected more than half of Chad's regions, she said. The same regions were hit by extreme drought last year. About 31,500 hectares (77,000 acres) of crops have been destroyed.

About 6,000 people have been displaced, Kollies said. They have moved in with family or sought shelter in schools and open areas.

Most roads are closed in the affected areas, meaning aid has to be airlifted, Kollies said.

Chad's rainy season typically stretches from June through the end of September, but it began earlier than usual this year. Rains were very heavy from the beginning, she said.

CNN's Mitra Mobasherat contributed to this report.

Squatter dies defending his claim

According to "Le Progrès" Edition 2947 and testimonies from observers,
on July 19th around 8:30 AM, as a mixed force of military and police
forces was working to reclaim a property occupied illegally near ASECNA
and the Ecole des Martyrs, a youth of fourteen years of age climbed on
to the roof of the home and opened fire with a machine gun on the troops
assembled there. The force responded in kind, and the young man was
killed in the altercation, but not before taking at least three soldiers
with him, and wounding several others.
There are many properties being occupied illegally throughout N'Djaména,
and most of them are occupied by Zaghawa and other northern tribesmen.
When a property is occupied illegally, it is impossible to collect
utility payments from those who use the services for free under threat
of bodily harm.
With the exchange of fire between illegal occupant and police forces
that occurred on Monday, tensions are high, and several important people
have been mobilized to lower the tension.
Please pray for those who have been wounded in this attack to be healed,
and those who have lost a relative in the line of duty to be comforted.
Also, please pray that those who are living in these properties will
find more satisfactory places to live elsewhere.

Morning Explosions in N'Djaména

July 5, 2010: A little after Seven o'clock this morning, massive explosions were heard towards the Chari River, near the bridge, throughout N'Djaména and the surrounding area. This is the result of a fire that burned in the Main Customs Office, burning it to the ground. It is not yet known whether the fire was accidental or deliberate.
The customs agency of Chad is the venue through which most of the goods in the country pass. Please pray for those whose jobs and projects have been affected by this loss.

Oxfam Worker Freed

By Ali Abba Kaya (AFP) – 3 days ago

N'DJAMENA — This past Wednesday, on June 16, a dual-national Swiss and
British Oxfam aid worker arrived in the Chad capital Wednesday after
being freed by troops from nine days' captivity at the hands of
kidnappers he said held him in the dark.

Hubert Ballaman, 57, arrived in N'Djamena on a government-chartered
plane a day after he was freed by soldiers from a joint Chadian and
Sudanese force which stormed the kidnappers' village hideout near the
border with Sudan.

Ballaman was captured on June 6 in Abeche, the main city in volatile
eastern Chad where several aid groups and UN agencies work with hundreds
of thousands of displaced people and refugees from the brutal conflict
in Darfur.

"I was locked up all day in a small room and they let me out at night,"
Ballaman told AFP on the plane from Abeche.

"I did not see daylight for eight days. I had no outside contact. When I
asked to contact Oxfam, they stopped me," he said.

Ballaman, who had an emotional reunion with his wife, said he did not
know who had seized him. Authorities said they had arrested two of the
kidnappers but did not day who they were.

"I was not hurt, I was well treated. I am relieved but very tired," he said.

Read the rest of the article here:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jsgZRSBbZDMw_a4hdiAAZ3x4k3sQ

Thank you SO much for praying for Mr. Hubert Ballaman during his
captivity! As we learn of further needs to pray for Chad, we will let
you know...

Oxfam aid worker abducted last Sunday in Abéché

Tue Jun 8, 12:35 pm ET

N'DJAMENA (AFP) – Armed men seized a Western aid worker with the British charity Oxfam in eastern Chad, officials said Tuesday.
The aid worker was snatched while leaving a restaurant on Sunday in Abéché, the main city in eastern Chad, where aid groups and UN agencies work with refugees, a humanitarian source said on condition of anonymity.
The worker with a Congolese colleague and a Chadian driver who were released about 70 kilometers (45 miles) east of Abéché, the source said.
Chad Interior Minister Ahmat Mahamat Bachir confirmed the kidnapping and said security forces were looking for the abductors. "We are doing all we can to find him," he said.

Read the full article at the Yahoo News Website (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100608/wl_africa_afp/chadkidnapaidoxfam_20100608163619)

Click here to learn more about Oxfam's efforts to help meet practical needs worldwide (http://www.oxfam.org.uk/applications/blogs/pressoffice/?p=13168&v=newsblog)

We do not yet know this man's name, but will pass it on to you as soon as we find out so that we can pray together for him by name.

Let us pray together for his safe return, and that God would keep him safe, wherever he is.