UN says floods in Somalia effected 400,000 people

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UN says floods in Somalia effected 400,000 people

MOGADISHU (HORN OBSERVER) - UN has said recent torrential rains in Somalia have affected 400,000 people in Middle Shabelle region weeks after heavy downpour in the capital killed more than ten children.

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FILE - People wade through a flooded street in Beledweyne, central Somalia, in this image made from video, May 17, 2020. (Photo courtesy: AP)

MOGADISHU (HORN OBSERVER) - UN has said recent torrential rains in Somalia have affected 400,000 people in Middle Shabelle region weeks after heavy downpour in the capital killed more than ten children.

In a statement this week, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the floods caused by the rains negatively impacted lives of the people in 14 districts since late April.

"Most affected people are in the Middle Shabelle region where floods in Jowhar district have displaced 66,000 people from 27 villages, destroyed over 40,000 hectares of farmland, disrupted learning in 11 schools and damaged 82 percent of WASH infrastructures," OCHA said in its floods update, referring to water, sanitation and hygiene facilities.

OCHA said flooding caused by river breakages displaced nearly 22,000 people and destroyed 1,235 hectares of farmland in BeledWeyne town.

It said humanitarian partners have scaled up assistance, reaching at least 82,000 affected people with life-saving assistance including food, water and sanitation, hygiene, health and shelter.

This week, Somali prime minister, Mohamed Hussein Roble visited Jowhar, the regional capital of HirShabelle to assess the devastation caused by the flooding.

PM Roble vowed to devise a new strategy to mitigate and find a lasting solution to the perennial flooding affecting thousands of people in the southern region.

"Due to seasonal flooding by Shabelle River, the regional capital is completely cut off, and so are the settlements in the environs, with no way out by the road," the PM said in a statement issued in Mogadishu after the visit.