London – In the past couple of days, alarming floods have affected Somalia, the surrounding countries, and across East Africa.
After a historic drought, Somalia braced for heavy rains due to the concurrence of El Niño and Indian Ocean dipole conditions.
The UN has warned that there are 1.6 million people that could be impacted by the usual heavy rains, describing the floods as a “once-in-a-century event.”
According to Somalia’s National Disaster Management Agency (SODMA) on Twitter, 534 180 people have been displaced and 32 lives have been lost.
In addition, this extreme weather is now a new challenge that cripples agriculture again after a longstanding drought.
OCHA has released US$25 million to help people in the country brace against the impact of these disasters.
That said, Somali authorities have been searching for those separated families and the most vulnerable that have been impacted by the floodwater, but delays occur due to roads being cut.
Despite multiple warnings from the government and organisations, the extensive rain caused severe damage and loss of life in four main areas: Baidoa, Bardere, Luuq, and Galkacyo.
This situation has caused problems in surrounding countries, especially Kenya and Ethiopia, with heavy rains, the Kenya Red Cross Society has reported.
Scientists consider this a major impact of climate change and warn that this cycle of drought and flooding will continue if nothing is done on a global scale.
(Photo by: Abdullahi Mire)
