Over 90,000 people affected by floods in two weeks, says UN agency

Over 90,000 people have been affected by floods in the last two weeks with more than 420,000 displaced in Bakool, Bay, Lower Juba, Middle Juba and Middle Shabelle regions, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA has said.

The agency also notes that though the rains have subsided and river levels relatively low, the situation remains unpredictable. In a flash report yesterday, OCHA said thousands of people in the low lying areas of the southern and central parts of Somalia remain at risk of flash and river flooding as the effects of El Nino continue to be felt in the country

The report comes in the wake of reports from Puntland that about 700 goats were swept away last evenig by floods after a 48 hour downpour in the Bari.
The report also points to cases of cholera outbreak in Jowhar, Kismayo and Mogadishu with a possible increase should the flooding persist.

The agency says it has been able to swiftly provide humanitarian support to mitigate the situation noting that health partners have been able to health supplies to 577,000 people in the last three months.
“Meanwhile, strengthening of weak spots in river banks, low embankments and breakages in the Juba and Shabelle rivers are continuing in collaboration with authorities and communities,” the report notes.

El Nino comes with a warming in sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, and can cause unusually heavy rains in some parts of the world and drought elsewhere.