Flash floods in Beledweyne, the Hiran region’s capital, forcing about 250,000 people to flee their homes.
Written by Chris Muhizi Minembwe Capital News 1:30pm Nairobi Kenya Time
As a result of severe rains in Somalia and the Ethiopian highlands. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) issued a plea for urgent financing to scale up assistance one week after the floods began, and this week, the Somali Disaster Management Agency handed supplies to affected families.
The greatest drought to affect Somalia in four decades is a result of the climate catastrophe. OCHA Southern and Eastern Africa, however, issued a warning that the current rain will not undo the damage brought on by years of below-average rainfall.
On the Shabelle’s banks, residents constructed a defense wall in 2019 that had previously helped to avoid flooding during times of intense rain, but it was unable to resist the power of the water this time.
Ali went to a relative’s house, where he is sharing a room with two other displaced families, like many other people of his neighborhood.
“You don’t have to be here with us to know how difficult it is when you have three families sharing a single room, not knowing when you’ll return home and if the floods left anything behind,” the man added.
Thousands of households are now without homes due to flooding in Beledweyne, Somalia.
In the Hiiraan area of the central Somali state of Hirshabelle, Beledweyne has the largest population density, and the UN estimates that more than 460,000 people are impacted.
Beledweyne’s major hospital and a number of other significant buildings have had to close as a result of rising water levels.
Hussein Yusuf, a local resident, claimed that it was the worst flood he had ever seen.
If the floods persist, residents said they worry about cholera and malaria outbreaks.