World Food Programme
Friday, November 29, 2013
A
slammed into Somalia’s northeastern coast on 10 November,
killing at least 80 people, according to the UN Office for the
Coordination of . Many of those who died were children or elderly people
– those most at risk from hypothermia and exposure. Despite
logistical challenges, the World Food Programme is providing critical
assistance to affected communities while also looking to cater for
longer-term needs. DONGOROYO - When Asha Adan
heard that WFP would be distributing food to cyclone survivors in
Dongoroyo in Somalia's Puntland region, she lost no time in making her
way to the town.
She was given 5 kg of oil, 10 kg of
maize, 10 kg of porridge and 10 kg of pulses. This would enable her
family to eat as they struggled to recover from the cyclone that tore
through this region, becoming just the latest disaster to strike this
vulnerable country.
"We had rain like we've never had
before, a storm, strong winds, freezing cold and lots of water. We
experienced all these things. By the grace of god, I haven't lost any
members of my family, but from the 300 livestock I had, only two remain.
My home and everything in it is gone," Adan said after collecting her
much-needed rations in Dongoroyo.
Pastoralists, like
Adan, were the hardest hit when the cyclone swept livestock and flimsy,
makeshift homes out into the sea. The day after the storm, declared a
state of emergency but initially, it was hard to tell exactly how much
damage had been done as roads had been washed away in a region with very
poor infrastructure.
On 15 November, WFP conducted a
rapid aerial assessment to measure the extent of the damage and identify
the best ways to reach those in need of assistance.
WFP transported 340 metric tons of food, such as cereals, pulses and ,
from the port of Bossaso to Banderbayla, Dongoroyo and Eyl, the
worst-affected districts. Around 27, 000 people in these areas have
received one month's .
In the surrounding countryside,
there were some signs of the storm that had flared so suddenly - the
occasional dead animal carcass, and a powerful smell of rotting meat.
The main between Garowe and Bossaso was completely washed away, about
60km north of Garowe, but restoration work was already underway in the
days following the storm.
Rebuilding infrastructure
Once
the emergency operation is over, WFP will start to implement a recovery
programme, including the Food-for-Assets (FFA) initiative which will
help communities rebuild their assets so that they can be in a stronger
position when any future man-made or natural shocks occur. In return for
their work, people receive monthly food rations.
For
now, the immediate needs include food, blankets and tents. Health, water
and sanitation services also need to be provided to prevent the spread
of disease. In the medium term, families will need support to rebuild
lost livelihoods including help to restock herds.
Hadia Warsame Ahmed lost nearly half her livestock in the storm, with her herd shrinking from 70 animals to 40.
"My
remaining animals are now sick and I am afraid more will die. I also
had mules that we used to move heavy things. All died in the storm," she
said after collecting food in Dongoroyo.
People in
Somalia's southern regions have also had to cope with heavy rains and
some flooding. Since the beginning of the Deyr rainy season, rainfall
has been moderate to heavy both in these regions and in the nearby
Ethiopian highlands, which provide 90 percent of the water that flows
into the Juba and Shabelle rivers.
This has led to some
flooding, especially in Middle Shabelle where river banks are weak or,
in some places, non-existent. In southern Somalia, WFP is providing food
assistance to around 5,000 families who have been affected by the
floods.