(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) At least 14 people have been killed in southern Somalia after
torrential rains triggered flash floods that have caused havoc in
several towns and villages, trend reports citing al
arabiya .
Bridges, roads and houses have been damaged or destroyed and
many people have been forced to flee their homes in search of safer
ground.
In the town of Baardhere in Jubaland state, 14 people were
killed including three members of the same family, district
commissioner Mohamed Weli Yusuf told reporters.
“Most of the casualties were caused after the victims were
trapped across a bridge in the town Thursday evening which was
swept up in the floods,” he said.
“It was very difficult to rescue these people because of the
time the incident happened and the lack of resources in the
town.”
The rains signal the early start of the April-June rainy season,
and have brought some relief to areas of the country suffering from
the worst drought in four decades.
But the UN's humanitarian response agency OCHA warned in a
statement on Saturday of the risk of an increase in diseases such
as cholera as living conditions likely deteriorate.
Baardhere resident Ahmed Omar said there had been heavy rains in
the region over the past three days.
“Floods devastated Baardhere town, my house was destroyed and
most of my belongings swept away by the flood. Thanks to God my
family survived but five people died in my neighborhood including
children and women,” he told AFP.
“Now the whole town is under water and most families fled to
higher ground,” he added.
Jubaland president Ahmed Mohamed Islam on Saturday sent
condolences to the relatives of those who lost their lives and
called for urgent assistance to be sent to those affected by the
disaster.
The Horn of Africa is one of the regions most vulnerable to
climate change, and extreme weather events are occurring with
increased frequency and intensity.
Earlier this month, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned
that nearly 100,000 people in Somalia were facing catastrophic
levels of hunger due to the worst drought to hit the region in four
decades.
Five straight failed rainy seasons across swathes of Somalia,
Kenya and Ethiopia have killed millions of livestock, destroyed
crops, and forced more than one million people from their homes in
search of food and water.
While famine thresholds have not been reached, the United
Nations says more than half of Somalia's population will need
humanitarian assistance this year.