A regional official told AFP on Saturday that flash floods in central Somalia had displaced approximately 200,000 people after the Shabelle River breached its banks and inundated highways.
Residents of Beledweyne town in Hiran region were forced to flee their houses after heavy rain caused water levels to rise dramatically, with residents carrying their goods on their heads as they waded through flooded streets in search of sanctuary.
“Some 200,000 people are now displaced due to the Shabelle River flash floods in Beledweyne town and the number may increase anytime. It is a preliminary figure now,” said Ali Osman Hussein, deputy governor for social affairs in Hiran region.
“We are doing all we can to help those who are affected,” he told AFP.
Hassan Ibrahim Abdulle, the region’s deputy governor, stated on Friday that “three people were killed by the floods.”
The calamity follows a historic drought that has pushed millions of Somalis to the verge of hunger, and the volatile country has also been fighting an Islamist insurgency for decades.
Residents told AFP that water flowed through the streets and into houses earlier this week, forcing them to flee their homes in the middle of the night.
Fartun Ali, not her real name, claimed she was fleeing flash flooding in Beledweyne for the fifth time.
“Whenever the river breaks its banks, we flee,” the mother of eight, 35, told AFP.
