Ethiopian floods feared to have killed 870

ADDIS ABABA, Aug 16 (Reuters) The death toll from the latest in a series of devastating floods in Ethiopia rose to 364 today after rescuers discovered 170 more bodies floating on the burst river.

That lifted to around 870 the total feared dead from heavy rains in the east and south of the Horn of Africa nation this month.

''Rescuers using motorboats and helicopters picked 170 more bodies out of the swollen Omo river which broke its banks and submerged surrounding villages, bringing the death toll there to 364,'' Inspector Daniel Gezahenge told Reuters.

''Under the circumstances it is expected that more bodies will be discovered because the flood has spread over wide areas,'' added Gezahenge, spokesman for the southern regional police force.

Thousands also remain stranded, cut off by massive floods and desperate for food and shelter in the remote south, where the Omo river burst its banks on Sunday, the United Nations and Ethiopian government said.

''There is no access to the area. The roads are not passable, and because of heavy clouds even helicopters cannot move,'' Vincent Lelei, deputy head of mission for the UN office for humanitarian affairs (OCHA) in Ethiopia, told Reuters.

''The visibility is very poor,'' he added.

State TV said bad weather was obstructing relief efforts.

''Two army helicopters and 14 motorboats have been deployed to evacuate up to 6,000 people marooned by the floods,'' it said in a statement. ''Bad weather has been hampering rescuers.'' BATTERING RAINS After suffering a drought since late last year, heavy rains have been battering Ethiopia in recent weeks.

In the east, the Dechatu river burst its banks last week, killing 254 and leaving 250 missing and feared dead in the Dire Dawa, 525 km east of the capital.

Officials and aid workers say the numbers of dead and homeless could turn out to be much higher due to the inaccessibility of the regions worst affected.

The local populations are mainly nomadic herders.

As well as the Omo and Dechatu disasters, officials fear the overflowing Awash River, some 300 km east of the capital, could soon burst its banks too.

The Awash Valley is home to three major sugar estates. Some 7,000 people near the riverbank are being evacuated.

Floods typically occur in lowland areas after heavy rains in the June-August rainy season drench the country's highlands.

But the situation has been exacerbated by land cultivation, deforestation and overgrazing, aid workers say.

''The rivers in Ethiopia have less capacity to hold as much water as they did years before, because they are being filled up with silt,'' World Food Programme (WFP) spokeswoman Paulette Jones said. ''It takes less intensity of rainfall ... to make a river in any particular part of the country overflow.'' Heavy rains and snow also fell on South Africa's southern region on Wednesday, blocking roads and spurring rescue attempts to save stranded motorists.

REUTERS BDP RAI2146