Floods in Somalia kill 7, displace thousands

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

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“Floods in Somalia is said to have claimed the lives of seven children and displaced thousands others. Towns in southern and central parts of the country were the most affected. The flood water has also caused an increase in the number of waterborne diseases such as cholera”.

Floods in many parts of Somalia have claimed the lives of seven children and displaced thousands others according to figures released by the UN humanitarian office for Somalia (OCHA).

The UN has listed the towns of Baidoa, Jowhar, Miido areas of southern Somalia as the worst affected by the recent floods. Other areas which have also been affected include Wanlaweyn in Lower Shabelle, Hudun district in Sool and Dharoor in Sanaag as well as Abudwaq in the Galgadud region of central Somalia.

Safety concern posed by stagnant water in some of the affected regions was also raised. The UN warned of major health risks, including increased incidents of cholera, diarrhoea and malaria.

“As floods continue to wreak havoc in most parts of the country, the UN and its humanitarian partners hope to come up with a long term strategy that would increase the preparedness of the people so that Somalis can cope with shocks such as drought, flood and food insecurity in the future”.

In his recent visit to Somalia, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia Philippe Lazzarini said that communities in Somalia will continue to be exposed to flooding and drought.

Farmers were not spared either as the torrential rains affected large swathes of their farms. Flood water also destroyed the farm produce leaving the farmers food insecure.

However the UN now says that it hopes better preparedness can help Somalis cope with future crisis

This, the UN says, it hopes to achieve by building resilience that will move away from the cycle of recurring crises as Somalia has become prone to drought and floods among other natural calamities.

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