Heavy rains and floods have killed scores of people and displaced hundreds of thousands of others across eastern Africa in recent weeks. governments and the United Nations saidhighlighting the intensifying climate risks in a politically and economically troubled region.
At least 179 people have been killed in countries including Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, according to the UN and government agencies, and some regional authorities believe the numbers are likely higher.
Torrential rains, which have ravaged other nations including Burundi, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda, have affected more than three million people in a region already reeling from the worst drought in four decades.
As of 2020, drought conditions, exacerbated by climate change, have decimated crops and livestock and left millions of people hungry and malnourished and hundreds of children dead.
The United Nations it has paid off heavier than usual rains in two climate events: the El NiΓ±o phenomenon, which originates in the equatorial Pacific Ocean and whose conditions release additional heat into the atmosphere, and a similar phenomenon known as Indian Ocean Dipole.
Flooding has damaged homes, bridges and schools, according to aid agencies, which have warned of an increase in cases of diseases including cholera and malaria.
In Somalia, where floods have affected 1.7 million people, the government declared a state of emergency in October. The UN said the country was facing βfloods once a century.β Most of those affected live in the southern part of the country, where heavy rains have pushed the two main rivers to burst their banks and submerge homes and farms.
The floods have so far killed at least 96 people in the country, including children, according to Farhan Jimale, the government spokesman.
“We were sleeping when the water poured into our house,” Faiza Ahmed Farah, a mother of five in the southwestern Somali town of Hudur, said in a telephone interview. βThe floods took everything. We were only able to save the children.”
With bridges down and road networks largely impassable, authorities worry they may not be able to quickly rescue evacuees or deliver food aid.
In Kenya, the heavy rains have killed more than 60 peopleAccording to the UN, thousands of people have been displaced in towns in the west and northeast as well, while entire neighborhoods were submerged in the coastal county of Mombasa this month. according to the Kenya Red Cross.
The rains have ravaged the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, home to around 300,000 refugees who are mainly from Somalia. In Hagadera, one of the compound’s camps, cases of diarrhea have doubled in just two weeks, the International Rescue Committee said in an emailed statement.
Thousands of people in another of the Dadaab camps were forced to leave their makeshift homes and move into schools. according to Doctors Without Borders. With limited supplies, humanitarian organizations are concerned about outbreaks of waterborne diseases along with malnutrition in the camp.
Similar disasters have struck neighboring countries, including Ethiopia, where torrential rain has plunged large tracts of land in several areas underwateraccording to the UN
Thousands of homes have been flooded across Sudan in recent weeks, even as millions flee the seven-month civil war. The rising waters have displaced thousands more in parts of South Sudan, a landlocked nation already burdened by years of violence and malnutrition.
For now, governments are scrambling to find money to reach those in need, including in Kenya, where disputes over the allocation of funds for flood victims have sparked a national debate. And the UN and other aid agencies have said funding is needed to address such growing humanitarian needs has been decreased in parts of the region.
Hussain Mohammed contributed reporting from Mogadishu, Somalia.