Local Response

ANDMA is the primary national disaster organization that has created protocols and procedures to coordinate and manage disaster-related "mitigation, preparedness, and responses" through local and national services.^[13] It is authorized as the central agency for all disaster-related interventions in the country, with Directorates in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan implementing "government-led federal and provincial coordination mechanisms".^[13] Afghanistan's development strategy incorporates ANDMA's mission to minimize all disasters' consequences to achieve their national development goals.^[14]

Reports on 29 August 2020, suggested 2,049 households were affected by the floods.^[5] ANDMA, with the collaboration of Joint Assessment Teams, confirmed 1,876 families in need of humanitarian assistance in the provinces of Parwan, Wardak, Kapisa, Logar, Kabul, Nuristan, Kunar, Laghman, and Nangarhar.^[5] The joint assessments identified the number of casualties and impact on agricultural land and public infrastructure.^[5] And in provinces like Kabul, they distributed one-month food supplies to the families affected.^[5] Furthermore, ANDMA cooperated and worked effectively with other humanitarian partners to ensure effective responses on their end.^[5]

With Parwan being the most severely impacted province with 500 damaged homes and 300-400 families displaced,^[15] the Afghan Ministry of Defense deployed its army to clear roads and carry out rescue operations.^[16] Afghan security forces also joined NATO to remove debris, lead rescue searches, and distribute aid.^[17] The Parwan Provincial authorities launched food, water, and warm clothes distribution while using schools to provide temporary shelter.^[15] They used resources from the Public Works Department to transport injured people to Kabul and Parwan Hospitals.^[15]

COVID-19 measures were impossible for displaced families to follow and exacerbated the environment for already vulnerable people.^[15] Despite local rescue and responses to flood disasters, thousands of buildings in Afghanistan are located in areas near rivers.^[16] They are prone to dangerous floods without the proper flood mitigation protocols in place.^[16]

International response

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the international community recognizes that Afghanistan is at a high risk of natural disasters and associated human suffering.^[18] The European Commission INFORM risk classification designates Afghanistan as very high risk based on overall risk of hazards, low socio-economic status and limited coping mechanisms and infrastructure.^[19] Many international humanitarian actors maintain a constant presence in Afghanistan and were prepared to respond, along with ANDMA, to the floods throughout the 2020 flooding season.

Prior to the beginning of the 2020 flood season, OCHA produced the Afghanistan ICCT Flood Contingency Plan which predicted flooding in 2020 to return to typical levels after the preceding three years of drought.^[18] However, the report also recognized that the effects of climate change are likely to lead to increased frequency and intensity of severe natural weather events, including floods and that this would likely generate increased humanitarian need.^[18]

Immediately after the most severe flood event of 26 August 2020, numerous international aid organizations were on the ground in the most severely affected Parwan province and began assisting ANDMA with assessments of the damage and loss of life.^[20] The actors present were International Organization for Migration (IOM), WFP, Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees (DCAAR), Danish Refugee Council (DRC), CARE International and ARCS. By 8 September 2020, OCHA reported that the humanitarian actors had distributed non-food items (NFIs), tents, emergency shelters, cash for food and hygiene kits to 892 families.^[21] IOM also reported that NFIs, shelter, cash for food and hygiene kits were distributed by various international organizations and ANDMA to an additional 1884 families in the central region, 9 families in the eastern region and, 48 families in the southeast region.^[21]

Short term consequences

The 2020 Afghanistan floods led to multiple casualties, health issues, and property damage.^[29] Short-term health impacts from the flooding were death and an increase in risk of malaria and cholera spread due to the increase in unsanitary, standing water.^[30] Although the International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned of an increase in cholera,^[30] the assumption that cholera rates will always rise after flooding events has been questioned in the past^[31] especially in areas, such as Afghanistan, where cholera is not endemic. The number of casualties/people affected varied depending on the province where the flooding occurred, with political strife and other social issues impacting the numbers of missing persons and casualties reported.^[29][32] In April 2020, OCHA estimated that 17,000 people had been affected by flooding until that point in Afghanistan.^[29] As flooding continued well into August of that same year, numbers are most likely greater.

Other additional short-term impacts from the flooding were housing loss, agricultural land/crop losses, and displacement.^[29] With a high quantity of people leaving the flooded areas and staying in neighboring communities until they could return to their homes, COVID-19 transmission was greater in the provinces affected by flooding.^[30] Short-term impacts such as housing and crop losses also often transmute into long-term issues, such as an increase in economic instability (and lack of access to proper healthcare), malnutrition, and lack of access to sanitary water sources (affecting the spread of communicable diseases).^[33]

Natural (and human-impacted) disasters increase the percentages of premature “Years of Life Lost”, even when death was not the initial short-term impact.^[34] In regard to children, they face serious physical and mental health impacts when losing a parent as immediate loss of economic stability, food safety, and shelter generate a multitude of physical and mental health issues, both short- and long-term.^[35] Organizations such as NATO and OCHA have worked to assist with these issues impacting local people from the flooding and various plans have been proposed for disaster risk management in the area to prevent future issues.^[36][37]

Long term consequences

The impacts of the 2020 floods had lasting impacts on an already at-risk population. By exacerbating one of the rural region's biggest long-term health care challenges, access, two of the biggest health challenges the region faced, non-communicable disease screening and treatment, and mental health care became even more challenging to deal with.^[27] Non communicable diseases are a major concern throughout the country as a whole, accounting for more than 35% of mortality overall.^[38] The rates of cardiovascular disease and cancer are exacerbated by a population that has an unhealthy diet and a high incident of smoking. Providing care for the ill presents challenges in the remote provinces under normal circumstances, as the world bank notes clinics are understaffed and resources are scarce.^[39] In the wake of the floods it became increasingly difficult as the population became more unstable.

Another long-term health impact of the 2020 flooding can be attributed to the destruction of poorly built housing in the provinces affected. The lack of a stable living environment and deaths associated with building collapses due to flash flooding took an additional emotional toll on a population already ravaged by both uncontrolled COVID-19 outbreaks and war.^[40] It is estimated that 50% of the afghan population has mental health issues, with the rural populations affected by the flooding at increased risk.^[41] To compound and already poor situation, access to mental health services remains an issue in the country, with less than 10% of afghans having access to services.^[42]