{"id":12113,"date":"2023-05-16T09:20:31","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T09:20:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/?p=12113"},"modified":"2023-05-17T09:34:09","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T09:34:09","slug":"un-reports-extensive-flooding-damage-in-central-somalia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/2023\/05\/16\/un-reports-extensive-flooding-damage-in-central-somalia\/","title":{"rendered":"UN reports extensive flooding damage in Somalia"},"content":{"rendered":"

MOGADISHU —<\/strong> Floods caused by the annual rains have left \u201ca trail of destruction\u201c across Somalia, a United Nations spokesman said, citing inundated homes and farmland as well as the shutdown of health facilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to early estimates by our partners, more than 460,000 people have been impacted, including nearly 219,000 men, women and children who have been displaced due to this (flooding),\u201c Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.<\/p>\n

At least five people, including three children, have been killed in the flooding, Mohamed Moalim of the Somalia National Disaster Management Agency told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

The destruction is greatest in the Hiiraan region of the central Somali state of Hirshabelle. Thousands of families have been displaced in Beledweyne, the regional city with the highest population density. The Shabelle river running through the town burst its banks amid heavy rainfall.<\/p>\n

If the rains persist in Somalia and in the Ethiopian highlands, \u201cwe estimate that up to 1.6 million people could be impacted, with more than 600,000 displaced,\u201d Dujarric said.<\/p>\n

Rising water levels in Beledweyne forced the closure of many important facilities, including government offices and the main hospital, residents said. Some said the flooding was the worst they had ever seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very difficult for me to walk this morning because of the amount of water,\u201c said Beledweyne resident Abdifitah Ahmed. \u201cAs you can see, this situation is getting worse as the amount of water increases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another resident, Hussein Yusuf, said that the damage to property is extensive. \u201cThis flood is larger than any flooding in recent memory that has ever occurred in this region,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Horn of Africa nation, one of the world\u2019s poorest, faces multiple crises. Other parts of Somalia face drought conditions, and there\u2019s an ongoing insurgency by Islamic extremist fighters opposed to the federal government in the capital, Mogadishu.<\/p>\n

Source: AP News\u00a0 Origin: View original<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MOGADISHU — Floods caused by the annual rains have left \u201ca trail of destruction\u201c across Somalia, a United Nations spokesman said, citing inundated homes and farmland as well as the shutdown of health facilities. \u201cAccording to early estimates by our partners, more than 460,000 people have been impacted, including nearly 219,000 men, women and children …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,1,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-environment-and-disasters","category-news","category-wash"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t