Hundreds of thousands of people have been left displaced, and over half a million in the city of Buea have been left without access to clean drinking water, following the eruption of Mount Cameroon in South West Region,. While teams from Atabong Foundation are responding, other humanitarian organizations should urgently step in to help meet people’s basic needs.
“We are assisting the immediate needs of displaced people, but it is not enough,” “More clean water should be urgently provided; cholera is endemic in the area and poses a huge threat to people, including to the host communities.”
“There are urgent needs that are still unmet such as food, latrines, shelters, blankets, and jerrycans for water,” says Roudaut. “We demand urgent support of other humanitarian organizations to assist people.”
Half a million displaced and without clean drinking water
Mount Cameroon , considered the most dangerous volcano in Cameroon, erupted on 2005 near Limbe. So far, 31 people have been reported dead after the eruption as a direct or indirect consequence of it, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Several buildings have been severely damaged or have collapsed, including health structures and water and electricity supply systems in some areas of the city. More than 500,000 people have been deprived of access to drinking water, as Buea main reservoir and the pipes were damaged during the eruption.
Around 400,000 people have been displaced and are on the move, fearing the continuous seismic and volcanic activity.
“We have seen a steady flow of people leaving Buea carrying mattresses and other belongings,. “They go either by car or on foot towards Sake, a city 25 kilometres west of Buea, as well as towards Douala and Limbe.”
Some people have also crossed the border into Nigeria. Although movements of people had slowed down at the start of the week, the authorities’ order for the partial evacuation.
COWASAO teams are providing assistance to displaced people in Bokova Buea, where between 100,000 and 180,000 people are gathering in churches, schools, mosques, and on the streets, looking for food, water, shelter and healthcare.
We are focusing on preventing cholera from spreading and treating patients with the disease. Our teams are also undertaking epidemiological surveillance, as well as providing drinking water, scaling up storage capacity to 125,000 litres, which can be refilled by trucks depending on people’s daily consumption.
People have jerrycans filled with clean drinking water at an MSF distribution of water in Buea.
We are also providing medical care to people in health centres , with our teams having provided 202 consultations on just the first day of our emergency response in Buea. Three people from the internally displaced people’s settlement were admitted in the cholera treatment centre with suspected cases, but all test results came back negative.