The 2008 Namibia floods began in early February 2008 and killed 42 people by early March. An estimated 250,000 people, primarily in the former Ovamboland

Ovamboland

Ovamboland was the name given by English-speaking visitors to the land occupied by the Ovambo people in what is now northern Namibia and southern Angola...

 regions of Oshana, Ohangwena

Ohangwena Region

Ohangwena is one of the thirteen regions of Namibia. The northern and western parts of the region are the most densely populated of this essentially subsistence agricultural region in which small scale mahangu cultivation and the keeping of cattle form the predominant activities...

, Omusati and Oshikoto

Oshikoto Region

Oshikoto is one of the thirteen regions of Namibia. The northern part of the region is agricultural, whereas the main economic activities in the southern part are cattle rearing and mining...

, were left stranded without outside access except by helicopter, with another 65,000 facing displacement. It was part of larger regional flooding across Southern Africa

Southern Africa

Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...

. On 14 March, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs

United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs is an organization of the General Assembly charged with implementing the Assembly's outer space-related policies. It is located in the United Nations Office in Vienna. The Office implements the Program on Space Applications and maintains the...

 triggered the International Charter "Space and Major Disasters" to help to the country battle a cholera outbreak.

Deputy Prime Minister Libertine Amathila

Libertine Amathila

Libertine Appolus Amathila is a Namibian physician and politician. She has been the Deputy Prime Minister of Namibia since March 2005.Amathila was born in Fransfontein, Kunene Region...

 declared that the government would spend 65 million Namibian dollar

Namibian dollar

The dollar has been the currency of Namibia since 1993. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively N$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...

s to assist the displaced.