4 Jan 2012

Flooding hits PNG's Oro Province

1:13 pm on 4 January 2012

Reports from Papua New Guinea say Oro Province has been struggling with floods and high tides.

The Red Cross General Secretary Esmie Sinapa has told the Post Courier that an initial assessment has put the number of people displaced and needing help at 11,000.

She says villagers have been affected since November, with many of them now running out of food and fresh water.

The on-going floods and rising sea levels have displaced villagers, forcing them to find shelter on higher ground.

There is also a fear that water-borne diseases could spread.