United Nations agencies have announced that they are stepping up efforts to aid displaced families affected by the deadly flooding and landslides in Sierra Leon's capital, Freetown, and surrounding areas.

"The scale of the damage is unprecedented," said UN Children's Fund, UNICEF, Representative Hamid El-Bashir Ibrahim, noting that at least 109 children are counted among the several hundred people killed in the disaster that struck on Monday.

While the mudslides have left death and destruction behind them, the Director and Representative of the World Food Programme, WFP, in Sierra Leone, Housainou Taal, said his UN agency is "focusing on survivors so that they can rise and move forward."

The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sierra Leone, Sunil Saigal, appointed Mr. Taal to coordinate the UN's humanitarian response to ensure timely distribution of aid, including food and shelter.

According to preliminary results of site assessments conducted by the Sierra Leone National Security Office and the United Nations Interagency Rapid Response Team, 1,039 households from several neighborhoods in Freetown and 100 individuals currently in a mountain cut shelter have been affected by floods and landslides.

Sierra Leone's Office of National Security estimated that more than 3,000 people have lost their homes.

Source: Wam