“Children who are critically malnourished from the terrible ongoing drought are now being uprooted from their homes by flooding”
Islamic Relief teams in Somalia are gearing up to provide aid as thousands of families escape rising flood waters in Beledweyne, central Somalia.
Heavy rainfall in parts of the Ethiopian highlands have led to the Shabelle River bursting its banks downstream in Somalia, with communities in Beledweyne frantically trying to stem the floodwater with sandbags. The UN is reporting that around 200,000 people are fleeing their homes in the area, with many packing their possessions onto the roofs of minibuses and donkey carts. Islamic Relief’s staff had to evacuate our office in Beledweyne as the water levels are rising rapidly.
Farmland has also been submerged by the water, devastating farmers who also continue to suffer from Somalia’s worst drought in decades. The ongoing drought has left Beledweyne and the surrounding Hiraan region facing critical levels of acute malnutrition, which the floods are now set to exacerbate further. Despite this flash flooding, most regions in Somalia are still experiencing, and are not yet recovered from, the drought and its impacts.
Aliow Mohamed, Islamic Relief’s Country Director in Somalia, says:
“Somalia is suffering from the extremes of climate change. Children who are critically malnourished from the terrible ongoing drought are now being uprooted from their homes by flooding.
“Most of the country is still struggling with the drought that has killed tens of thousands of people and wiped out crops and livestock. Now in Beledweyne we’re seeing crops submerged by floods and this is going to push even more families into hunger and destitution. The situation in Beledweyne is critical but we’re worried it’s going to get worse and could spread to other towns further down the river.”
Islamic Relief is initially planning to provide people affected by the floods with emergency cash so they can buy food, temporary shelter or meet other urgent needs.
