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Lesotho

Lesotho / Southern Africa: Windstorms - Emergency Plan of Action, DREF Operation n° MDRLS005

Attachments

A. Situation analysis

Description of the disaster

From 27 to 31 August 2021, Lesotho experienced windstorms which affected several districts across the country. Out of the ten districts, two (Qacha's Nek and Thaba Tseka) were severely affected while the remaining eight districts experienced minor effects of the wind.

Soon after the disaster, Lesotho Red Cross Society (LRCS) and the Disaster Management Authority (including stakeholders from the District Disaster Management Team (DDMT) and the National Society) conducted a rapid assessment between the 29 and 31 of August 2021 revealed that in Qacha’s Nek and Thaba Tseka, cumulatively, 510 houses were affected by the storm. Out of the affected households, 162 were destroyed and families have been displaced, currently hosted by neighbours or relatives. The remaining 348 families whose houses were damaged are using undamaged part of the houses, although they have lost their basic household items. In Qacha’s Nek (Sehaba Theebe) 81 family latrines were blown away. The table below shows the number of affected families per district.

Based on the above, this DREF request will initially focus on supporting the urgent needs of the affected communities which include, immediate food support, temporary shelter materials, WASH and psychosocial support. Continuous assessments by volunteers will allow monitoring and any new development on the ground impacting the operation will be used to update the response as necessary. The DREF operation will focus in Qacha’s Nek and Thaba Tseka areas, where the impact of storms was greatest.