NAIROBI, 14 Nov 2006 (IRIN) - Continued flooding in southern Somalia has displaced tens of thousands of people in the Hiiraan region, with large tracts of farmland submerged in and around Beletweyne, the region's capital, sources said on Tuesday.
A journalist, Abdirahman Dini, said rain-induced floods caused the Shabelle River to burst its banks and flood Beletweyne, 350 km northwest of the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
"The floods have displaced around 80 percent of the population of the eastern part of the town and 20 percent of the western part," Sheikh Farah Mo'alim, the governor of Hiiraan, told IRIN on Tuesday.
Mo'alim added, "Most of those displaced are now camped at Jenta Kundishe [15 km to the northeast of Beletweyne], which is on a higher elevation."
He said many heads of livestock had been lost and huge tracts of farmland flooded.
Save the Children-UK (SC-UK), a relief agency operating in the region, said up to 65,000 people had been displaced so far.
"Our estimate is that 50,000 people have been displaced in Beletweyne and another 15,000 in the outlying villages," Toby Porter, SC-UK's director of emergencies, said.
El Khidir Daloun, the director of SC-UK Somalia programme, said: "Our priority is to get aid to these people as quickly as possible before this emergency situation turns into a humanitarian crisis."
"This is a one in 10-year flood event," Porter said on Tuesday.
The worst affected areas are Beletweyne and villages to the north and south of the town. People have moved to elevated areas in the east and west of town.
"But many are marooned in their neighbourhoods, because the only working bridge was washed away. People are using boats to move around the town," said Dini.
Dini said the water levels of the river were still rising, creating fear of more flooding. Water levels have already passed 8.3 metres - flood warnings tend to start at around five metres, according to SC-UK.
"Dealing with shelter and water contamination are our main concerns as the floodwater has swamped latrines and shallow wells and people are now exposed to the elements," Porter said. "There is a very real possibility of cholera or other water-borne diseases rapidly spreading - especially among children."
Many parts of Somalia are experiencing the short ‘Deyr’ rains (September-December), which have been above average this year. Heavy rain in neighbouring Ethiopia has caused the rivers downstream in Somalia to swell, leading to the flooding.
A Somali agronomist told IRIN that since the collapse of the Somali government in 1991, no-one had been able "to de-silt the riverbeds or manage the sluice gates on the rivers or adjoining canals", thereby exacerbating the flood threat.
Local farmers had also cut into river embankments to irrigate their land, which contributed to the seasonal flooding.
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Source: IRIN, Nov 14, 2006