Kampala — THE Government is to set up a team to assess the damage caused in by the floods in the eastern and north eastern Uganda, the disaster preparedness minister has said.

Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere said without information on the affected areas and the victims, it was difficult to plan for their needs.

Floods were this week reported in the Karamoja region and in some districts in eastern Uganda, where two UPDF soldiers lost their lives after they were swept away by floods.

Three districts, Abim, Kaabong and Kotido in Karamoja region have been cut off from Moroto district because of the floods.

Passengers plying those routes were stranded and the World Food Programme trucks taking relief to Karamoja have been stuck between Orungo and Iriiri since last week.

In the West Nile region, 150 inmates were relocated after their prison was submerged while in Tororo district, two primary schools were closed as a result.

Kabwegyere on Wednesday said as soon as the ministry receives the required data, they would act on the needs of the affected victims.

Meanwhile, weather experts have said the floods are short-lived and would soon end since the rains were declining.

Aloys Kagoro, a principal meteorologist at the department of Meteorology, said the current rains in West Nile and Karamoja regions, where the floods have been reported, would start receding.

"Those floods that are occurring now are not going to last for long," Kagoro said.

The latest weather report for October and forecasting rainfall trends for November indicated that most areas in the country received enhanced rainfall last month.

The meteorology commissioner, Stephen Magezi, said although wet conditions were experienced over the northern and Karamoja regions during October, a reduction in the intensity of rainfall would follow.

Musa Ecweru, the disaster preparedness state minister, told reporters in Kampala this week that mountainous areas in Mbale and western Uganda could suffer landslides.

Last year, several districts were hit by torrential rains and floods, taking lives, marooning over 140,000 people, destroying roads and submerging crops. This forced the Government to declare a state of emergency.