Flash floods in Somalia have killed 50 people and forced nearly 700,000 people from their homes, a government official said, while heavy rains expected on Tuesday are expected to worsen the situation.
The Horn of Africa is facing torrential rains and floods linked to the El Niño weather phenomenon, which have claimed dozens of lives and led to widespread displacement, particularly in Somalia, where torrential rains destroyed bridges and flooded residential areas.
“Fifty people died in the disaster… while 687,235 people were forced to leave their homes,” Mohamud Moalim Abdullahi, director of the Somali Disaster Management Agency, said at a news conference on Monday.
“The rains expected between November 21 and 24 pose the risk of further flooding, which could cause death and destruction,” he added.
On Saturday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the number of people displaced by heavy rains and floods in Somalia had “nearly doubled in a week,” while a total of 1.7 million people were affected by the catastrophe affected.
“In addition, roads, bridges and airstrips were damaged in several regions, affecting the movement of people and supplies and leading to an increase in the prices of essential goods,” OCHA said.
The 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 displaced from their homes following flash floods in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.
The Horn of Africa is one of the regions most affected by climate change and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe.
The region is recovering from the worst drought in four decades, after several disappointing rainy seasons that left millions of people in need and destroyed crops and livestock.
Aid groups have warned that the situation will only get worse and called for urgent global intervention as El Niño is expected to last until at least April 2024.