This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 000009 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR SA/FO AMBASSADOR QUINN, S/CT, SA/A, EUR/RPM, 
EUR/ACE 
DEPT PASS FEMA 
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN, KAMEND 
REL NATO/AUS/NZ/ISAF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID PGOV SENV AF
SUBJECT: PRT/TARIN KOWT:  URUZGAN PREPARES FOR SPRING 
FLOODS WITH PRT ASSISTANCE 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY:  PRT Tarin Kowt is helping Uruzgan 
Province plan and prepare to avert a replay of last 
year,s devastating spring floods that left hundreds dead 
and thousands homeless.  Along with a number of concrete 
local projects, the PRT has focused on building the local 
administration,s response capability including arranging 
for an Army Corps of Engineers flood mitigation 
specialist to travel to Afghanistan and conduct emergency 
management training.  The training was well attended by 
Uruzgan government, police, military, and non- 
governmental officials.  The event consisted of briefings 
on flood forecasting and the emergency management phases 
of preparation, response, and recovery.  These briefings 
were followed by a map exercise in which Afghan officials 
planned together how best to prepare and cope with a 
flood in a notional river valley community.  The PRT will 
build on provincial level training with similar training 
at the district level in the coming months.  Finally, the 
PRT facilitated the instructor and local officials 
visiting several potential flood sites.  Short trainings 
focused on flood response could be useful at other PRTs 
prior to the onset of spring snow-melt and rains. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
BACKGROUND 
 
¶2.  (U) Like much of the country in the spring of 2005, 
Uruzgan suffered severely from flooding as a result of 
snow fall followed by heavy rainfall.  Nearly 90 villages 
spread across all five districts of the province were 
damaged by flood waters causing over 200 fatalities and 
directly affecting almost 11,000 people.  Moreover, in 
this remote province with few social or relief services, 
the ripple effect of these floods extended far beyond 
just the official numbers as victims of the disaster were 
forced to rely on already hard-pressed family and tribal 
ties.  Despite the unpredictable timing and force of the 
flooding, much of the calamity might have been averted or 
mitigated.  During the previous seven years of drought, 
many villagers moved homes into flood plains or even down 
into riverbeds for better access to water.  Furthermore, 
irrigation canals and culverts had become clogged with 
silt and other blockage. 
 
¶3.  (C) This winter, the PRT,s Civil Affairs Team and 
USAID Representative have worked to assist the provincial 
administration prepare for spring floods.  Using a 
mixture of funding from the Army,s Commander,s Emergency 
Relief Program (CERP) and from USAID,s Quick Impact 
Program (QIP) and Cash for Work Programs, the PRT has 
supported a medley of projects including pre-positioning 
relief supplies in strategic locations, paying villagers 
to repair canals and karezs (underground canal systems), 
developing local industry to build gabion rock cages to 
shore up embankments, and repairing and reinforcing local 
roads and crossings. These tangible measures of 
assistance aside, the PRT,s main focus has been capacity- 
building within the local administration and pressing 
them to plan and prepare their own institutions for 
disaster response.  (COMMENT: Response from the 
provincial government has been mixed, but two key 
ministers, Irrigation and Reconstruction and Rural 
Development (RRD), have reacted positively and have begun 
working proactively.) 
 
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT TRAINING 
 
¶4.  (U) At the heart of the PRT,s efforts at capacity 
building was a three-day training seminar on emergency 
management conducted by Mr. Gary Brown of the Army Corps 
of Engineers.  A specialist in flood mitigation working 
out of a Corps Lab in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Mr. Brown 
worked for a month in post-Katrina New Orleans and was 
thus well-qualified to advise and train others on the 
effects of massive flooding and the critical importance 
of effective planning, preparation, and response. 
 
¶5.  (C) The training was well attended by Uruzgan 
officials representing the Provincial Ministries of 
Irrigation, Health, Education, RRD, the Afghan National 
and Highway Police, the Afghan National Army, and the Red 
Crescent Society.  The first morning consisted of two 
briefings. The first concentrated on the causes of 
flooding and flood forecasting and the second explained 
the basic emergency management phases of preparation, 
response, and recovery.  Several Afghan participants 
asked questions about Hurricane Katrina and Mr. Brown 
responded candidly and used the questions and his answers 
to reinforce the importance of planning and preparation. 
(COMMENT: The Afghan officials present appeared genuinely 
impressed with Mr. Brown,s frank appraisal and his actual 
experience working in the aftermath of Katrina.) 
 
¶6.  (C) The second day focused on the responsibilities of 
each organization followed by a map exercise (MAPEX) in 
which Afghan officials planned together how best to 
prepare and cope with a flood in a notional valley 
community.  Using a map and miniature buildings and 
terrain elements, the Afghan officials led by Mr. Brown 
discussed where to build gabion walls, culverts, to 
preposition supplies, designate evacuation sites, and 
finally how to respond to a flood.  (COMMENT: Although 
rudimentary, the MAPEX allowed participants to explore 
the relatively unfamiliar process of inter-agency 
planning and coordination.) 
 
¶7.  (U) On the final day, the Civil Affairs Team and Mr. 
Brown accompanied  by the Provincial Ministers of 
Irrigation and RRD traveled along the banks of the Tarin 
River, a major waterway running east to west across the 
breadth of Uruzgan.  Mr. Brown observed several potential 
flood sites and made practical suggestions for flood 
mitigation and the placement of gabion embankments. 
 
¶8.  (U) Building on this provincial level emergency 
training conducted by Mr. Brown, the PRT will assist 
Provincial Ministries in organizing training at the 
district level.  These trainings will be implemented in 
the next few months prior to the beginning of spring. 
District training is aimed at not only building local 
capacity to respond to flooding but also to develop 
linkages and relationships between key figures in the 
provincial and district administrations. 
 
BEST PRACTICES 
 
¶9.  (C) The training provided by Mr. Brown in just a 
three day seminar was effective and his obvious expertise 
conferred creditability upon the efforts of the PRT. 
Providing more flood mitigation trainings through the 
Corps of Engineers or Federal Emergency Management Agency 
at other U.S. PRTs before March could be a valuable means 
of supporting U.S. policy in the region.  Additionally, 
ISAF PRT,s could implement similar training seminars by 
accessing NATO,s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response 
Coordination Center which has considerable experience in 
Europe responding to floods and other natural disasters. 
In either case, building GOA capacity in emergency 
management will not only save lives and property but 
likely will increase pro-government sentiment by showing 
tangible evidence of the GOA,s growing ability to provide 
for its citizens. 
 
¶10.  (C) COMMENT:  The success of this particular 
emergency management training seminar emphasizes the 
continued value of on-the-ground civilian expertise at 
PRTs.  While having large numbers of permanent party U.S. 
officials at PRTs is impractical, utilizing short-term 
visits and events such as this event can act as a 
reasonable substitute.  Accessing the considerable human 
capital of the Federal and State governments, for periods 
as short as even a week, provides significant added value 
to the PRT,s missions of improving local governance 
capacity and facilitating reconstruction and economic 
development.  END COMMENT. 
NEUMANN