Somali government officials say 50 people have been killed and more than 700,000 displaced by flash floods in the county, and the situation is expected to worsen with heavy rain on Tuesday (today).
El Niño is currently causing heavy rains and flooding in the Horn of Africa, destroying bridges and submerging residential areas.
As a result, many people have been forced to evacuate and dozens of lives have been claimed.
“50 people have died in this disaster… while 687,235 people have been forced to evacuate their homes,” Somali Disaster Management Authority chief Mohamud Moalim Abdullahi said at a press conference on Monday.
“Rains expected from November 21 to 24…could cause further flooding, causing death and destruction,” he added.
The U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA reported on Saturday that 1.7 million people were affected by the disaster, with the number of people displaced by flooding and heavy rains in Somalia “almost doubling in one week.”
“Furthermore, roads, bridges and airstrips have been damaged in several regions, affecting the movement of people and goods and leading to higher prices for basic goods,” OCHA said.
On Thursday, British charity Save the Children said flash floods in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia had forced more than 700,000 people from their homes and killed more than 100 people, including 16 children.
One of the regions most at risk from climate change is the Horn of Africa, where extreme weather events are occurring more frequently and intensely.
After several failed rain seasons, destroying crops and livestock and leaving millions of people in poverty, the region is currently experiencing its worst drought in 40 years.
With El Niño predicted to last until at least April 2024, humanitarian organizations have issued stark warnings that the situation is certain to worsen and called for immediate international intervention.
Source: dailypost.ng