Hassan Istiila
Friday November 17, 2023
Internally displaced Somali children wade through flood waters outside their makeshift shelters following heavy rains at the Al Hidaya camp for the internally displaced people on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia November 6, 2023 (Reuters)
Mogadishu (HOL) - The death toll from the floods caused by El-Nino rains in several regions of Somalia has reached 50, while over 5,000 houses have been destroyed, officials said on Thursday evening.
The Commissioner for the Somali Disaster Management Agency (SODMA), Mohamud Moalin Abdulle, stated that the floods displaced more than half a million people and impacted approximately 1.4 million people.
The commissioner added that the floodwater caused massive devastation, submerging Bardhere Bridge in the Gedo region, over 5,000 houses, and dozens of roads in South-Central Somalia.
"The floods in the country have killed 50 people, destroying crops and livestock. I am calling on all Somali people to help each other, to avoid relying on foreign aid," he said.
Today, the Agency dispatched the third plane carrying ten tons of food and medical supplies for the victims in Baidoa, one of the worst-affected areas in South-West State. The previous day, it sent a plane carrying six tons of food and other emergency supplies for the flood-affected people in the Bardhere district in the Gedo region.
Heavy rains are also expected in the Bay region of the South
West, as well as parts of Somaliland and Galmudug, with riverine and flash
flooding likely to continue until Nov. 21, the OCHA Somalia said and warned
that the risk of disease outbreaks, particularly cholera, is growing.