The government of Somalia announced on Thursday that about two million people had been affected by the disastrous floods that had claimed close to 100 lives.
Like other nations in the Horn of Africa, Somalia is experiencing flash floods and torrential rains as it emerges from a drought that has left millions of people on the verge of starvation.
The flood calamity, which has forced about 700,000 people from their homes, submerged entire neighborhoods and farmland, and destroyed bridges, prompted the government to proclaim a state of emergency earlier this month.
The cabinet said in a statement Thursday after a briefing by the National Disaster Management Agency that about 96 people have lost their lives and almost two million have been affected.
“The federal government of Somalia is carrying out efforts to assist people who were affected by the floods and the cabinet has appealed to the humanitarian agencies and the Somali public to help those affected,” it said.
The El Nino weather condition, which is predicted to persist until at least April of next year, is connected to the excessive rains.
One of the areas most at risk from climate change is the Horn of Africa, where extreme weather events are happening more frequently and intensely.
Aid organizations have warned that the situation is only going to get worse. Dozens of people have also died in flooding in Ethiopia and Kenya, according to the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA.
Following several unsuccessful wet seasons that destroyed crops and cattle and left millions of people in need, the region has now experienced its worst drought in forty years.
