100,000 Ethiopians Affected by Floods

ADDIS ABABA - More than 100,000 people have been affected by floods in Ethiopia and 17 have died of waterborne disease, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

"Approximately 103,000 people in Amhara, Tigray, South Sudan Nations and Nationalities Peoples State and Gambella regions have been affected by floods," the U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA said in a report following days of heavy rains.

Seventeen people died of acute diarrhoea, it said.

Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile, was continuing to rise, the report added, increasing the risk of more floods.

Ethiopian authorities have yet to comment on the impact of the latest floods, but OCHA said the government had sent 1,121 tonnes of food aid for 60,000 people in the worst-hit areas.

The United Nations estimates up to 900 Ethiopians died last year when several rivers burst their banks. Flash floods typically happen in lowland areas of the country after heavy rains drench the highlands during the June-Sept rainy season.