The Tunisia Company
- Duration
- 4 December 1969 - 4 March 1970
- Military personnel
- 245
- Fatalities
- none
- Decorations
- 4
In the last week of September 1969, the North African country of Tunisia was hit by severe flooding. Devastating flood waters killed hundreds of people and made hundreds of thousands homeless.
No infrastructure and no clean drinking water
Almost all bridges, roads, railway lines and water mains in the north and east of Tunisia were completely destroyed. The biggest problem, however, was that there was virtually no clean drinking water in the affected area. The flooding had left a thick layer of sand over everything. Almost all wells had therefore become unusable. In addition, the force of the flooding had broken the mains in the cities of Sidi Bou Ali and Kairouan.
Disaster Relief Brigade assists
The Tunisian government asked different countries for help. The Netherlands had just formed the Disaster Relief Brigade (Rampenbrigade), a special unit that could be deployed to areas that had been affected by a disaster. Dutch military engineers were tasked with repairing the mains and removing the sand from the wells.