El Niño Induced Floods Worsening Humanitarian Crisis in Somalia – OCHA

MOGADISHU: Devastating floods in Somalia are worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis in many parts of the country.

The flooding is part of a regional deluge linked to ongoing weather patterns known as El Niňo and the Indian Ocean Dipole — which impact ocean surface temperatures and are causing extreme rainfalls in the country forecasted to persist until January 2024.

According to Somalia’s National Disaster Management Agency (SoDMA), at least 50 died following days of heavy torrents, the most severe in “decades”.

The latest update by the office for coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) in Somalia indicates that the floods have affected over 1.17 million and displaced over 695, 000 people.

Somalia is experiencing a swing between drought and torrential rains which are becoming two common extreme weather events.

As the country recovers from its worst and prolonged drought in four decades, which killed as many as 43,000 people and displaced over 1.5 million people, El Niňo rains have come and caused more deaths and further displacement to the already weakened communities.

The floods have also destroyed key infrastructures, including roads and bridges, hampering transportation, access to clean water, health centers, food and education.

Sanitation facilities have also been damaged, leading to an increased risk of waterborne diseases.

The El Niňo event also threatens to have devastating consequences on the lives of women and girls. It is poised to worsen feminized poverty, restrict physical freedom and educational opportunities, deplete female-headed households’ incomes, and disrupt essential health and social services for pregnant and lactating women.

Vulnerable populations, such as women from minority clans and those with disabilities in high-risk areas, will face heightened disadvantages as service accessibility declines.

The severe impacts of the El Niňo are likely to increase the humanitarian needs of the exposed populations, with food security and health expected to be the most affected dimensions.

The current heavy rainfall has already caused deaths and destruction and comes on the back of the 2021-2023 drought.

In 2023, an estimated 8.25 million people, nearly half of Somalia’s population, need immediate life-saving humanitarian and protection assistance.

The situation has been exacerbated by the flash floods triggered by the El Nňo. The Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan for 2023, which seeks US$2.6B, is now only 40 percent funded.

The Somali NGO Consortium warns that in the absence of urgent support, the humanitarian conditions will worsen, and therefore appeals to countries, institutional donors, corporates, the Somali diaspora, philanthropic individuals to put forward urgent additional funding to support the floods affected people.