A. ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION

Description of the disaster

Devastating flash floods occurred across the country on varying scales due to prolonged heavy rains between June 28 and July 29. Rainfall averages 46 to 60 millimeters across the country. Flash floods and heavy rains severely affected about 2,343 households in several locations including Arkhangai, Umnugovi, Orkhon, Dornogovi, Govi-Altai, Uvurkhangai, Tuv, Zavkhan provinces , Dornod, Selenge, Khuvsgul, Bayan-Ulgii, Uvs, Khovd and Songinokhairkhan, Bayangol, Bayanzurkh, Sukhbaatar, Chingeltei Districts. Branch Disaster Response Teams (BDRTs) in the affected areas immediately assessed the situation and needs, assessed the damage on the spot, and exchanged information in a timely manner with MRCS headquarters.

According to the situation analysis, the most severely affected provinces were Umnugovi and Tuv provinces when torrential rains were followed by devastating flash floods on 24 July and 29 June. According to local branches of the MRCS, the local emergency management agency received 474 rescue calls and a search and rescue operation was set up for 497 people. There were no casualties. Many households were severely damaged and 43 households had their gers destroyed by the floods, including 15 households in Umnugovi province and 28 in Tuv province. Due to flash flooding, electrical substations were damaged and parts of the capital of Umnugovi and the counties of Khankhongor, Khanbogd, Gurvantes, Nomgon and Tsogttsetsii were left without power on July 29. Later, on July 31, the power plants were repaired by 20 employees of the “Southern Region Power Distribution Network”. Heavy rains on July 24 also caused severe flash flooding in Govi-Altai province, where five people tragically died.

Oyutolgoi and Tavantolgoi are important coal and copper mining sites located in Umnugovi province which have direct influence on the Mongolian economy and due to road damage caused by flash floods, land transportation of Charcoal was delayed for two days from June 29 to 30 and repaired by the local authorities on June 30.

Prolonged rains across the country affected both urban and rural areas of Mongolia. In Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, some areas were badly damaged and flooded by heavy rains, causing massive stress among the citizens. Old bridges, roads and avenues in Ulaanbaatar that were built without a sewage system were the most severely affected. The Water and Sewerage Authority took timely action to repair the rain damage and drain the water. As mentioned above, six districts of Ulaanbaatar were heavily affected by the flash floods and more than 234 households were affected at different levels of severity.

During the operation, there were no government restrictions that affected the operation regarding COVID19.