RASC News Agency: According to reports from international media, the occurrence of severe floods following a 40-year drought in parts of Somalia has prompted the country’s authorities to declare a state of emergency.
According to reports cited by international media from the Somali Disaster Management Agency on Wednesday November 8th, a minimum of 10 people have lost their lives as a result of these floods.
According to Somali officials, the impact of these floods, following several years of drought and unsuccessful rainy seasons in the country, has led to a humanitarian crisis.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has stated in a report that as a result of these crises, more than 100,000 people have been displaced and at least 10 lives have been lost.
According to OCHA’s statement, local authorities have requested immediate support for 14,000 families who do not have access to relief workers and are unable to sustain themselves with their own internal resources.
The UN agency stated that regions such as Hiiraan, Puntland, Galguduud, and southwestern areas have also been severely affected by the devastating floods.
UNICEF has reported that sudden floods have occurred only a few months after the end of the longest drought in recent decades in Somalia.
It is worth mentioning that the Somali government had previously declared a “state of emergency” throughout the country due to increasing drought conditions and added that over one million people in the country are facing a water scarcity crisis.
Meanwhile, according to information, earlier this year, after the Shabelle River breached its banks in central Somalia and submerged the town of Beledweyne, a flood displaced a quarter of a million people from their homes.
Emergency agencies and scientists have warned that climate change is one of the key factors accelerating human emergencies.
