One dies as heavy floods hit Badhaadhe

One person has been confirmed dead when a flash flood washed away houses in Badhaadhe town on last night, officials confirm.

A man who was swept away by flood waters caused by heavy rains pounded for hours according to Farah Haybe, one of Jubbaland officials in Lower Jubba region.

“The heavy rains have been pounding since yesterday afternoon. One person died and houses are ether submerged or washed away,” he said.

He said that floods followed more than eight hours of heavy rains and damaged an estimated over 180 tons of sorghum, maize, sugar, wheat.

Hundreds of families displaced by the floods in Badhaade are currently scattered around the villages outside the town without food or shelter.

People have also started moving away from around small canals in tribal areas of the district, as the water level in the river rises.

Much higher than normal rains in the last third of 2015, resulting from the El Niño climate phenomenon, could reverse many of the humanitarian and development gains made in southern parts of Somalia since the Horn of Africa Nation was affected by one of the worst famines in 2011.