Brutal floods in Somalia have killed fifty people and driven nearly 700,000 people from their homes, a government official announced on Tuesday, November 21. Heavy showers are expected, which could worsen the situation.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing torrential rains and floods linked to the El Niño weather phenomenon which have claimed dozens of lives and caused large-scale displacement, notably in Somalia, where rains destroyed bridges and flooded residential areas .
“Fifty people died in the disaster; 687,235 people were forced to flee their homes,” Somali Disaster Management Agency (Sodma) director Mahammud Moallim Abdullahi said at a press briefing on Monday. “The rains expected between November 21 and 24 are likely to cause further flooding which could cause death and destruction,” he added.
1.7 million people affected by the disaster
On Saturday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the number of people displaced in Somalia by bad weather had “nearly doubled in a week”, while a total of 1.7 million people were been affected.
“In addition, roads, bridges and airstrips have been damaged in several areas, affecting the movement of people and supplies and leading to an increase in prices of basic commodities,” OCHA said.
British charity Save the Children said on Thursday that more than 100 people, including 16 children, had died and more than 700,000 people had been forced from their homes in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia as a result. flash floods.
The Horn of Africa is one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change and extreme weather events are increasingly frequent and intense. The region is emerging from its worst drought in four decades, after several disappointing rainy seasons that left millions in need and devastated crops and livestock.
Aid groups have warned the situation is only set to get worse and called for urgent global intervention as El Niño is expected to last until at least April 2024.