Deadly Floods In Somalia Displace And Kill Thousands

The floods in Somalia have forced the relocation of over 300,000 people and have been described as worse than the ones in 1997, which claimed over 2,000 lives.

Heavy flooding in East African nations has claimed the lives of at least 44 people in Kenya and Somalia. About 1.6 million people in Somalia might be impacted by the rainfall, according to a statement released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Flooding caused by torrential rains starting in early October has claimed at least 29 lives and displaced over 300,000. Meanwhile, the Kenya Red Cross said that 15 people had lost their lives due to the torrential rains that started last Friday.

The Somali government declared a national emergency.

OCHA said that El Nio and the Indian Ocean Dipole contributed to the intensity of the rains. Forecasts for the 8-15 of November show very severe to very high rainfall in southern Somalia and wetter than typical circumstances in central and southern pats of the country, according to an OCHA report. Kenya's northeastern counties of Mandera and Wajir, as well as the port city of Mombasa, took the brunt of the disaster.

The Kenya Meteorological Department issued a statement warning of above-average rainfall in the nation over the last three months of the season, with the increase in precipitation being caused by higher sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.



Source: news.sky.com