Orissa (India) flooding 2011

In September 2011, heavy rains fell in Orissa, in the Bay of Bengal, India. The floods inundated 4,092 villages, affected 2 million people.

Orissa was already in the ‘hunger season’ – the four month monsoon season when food supplies usually run low. However, because of the floods, precious food stocks were lost and children and their families had to live without food, clean drinking water, shelter and hygiene. 

Livelihoods were destroyed and children’s education was disrupted as schools were forced to close. Many children had to work to find food for themselves and their families.

As a result of the floods and subsequent floodwater stagnation, children and their families were increasingly at risk of water-borne diseases like diarrhoea and dysentery.

A dramatic increase in mosquitoes also meant there was greater danger of malaria and dengue fever outbreaks. There were no toilet facilities and severe sanitation problems had developed.

To support recovery from the disaster, Save the Children New Zealand contributed $97,000 to help the people of Orissa in 2011.

Funds sent from New Zealand were used for maternal and newborn health kits, and to provide nutrition, sanitation and other emergency needs for mothers, newborns and young children affected by the floods.