Heavy rains and flash floods kill 40 in Kenya, Somalia
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said, at least 40 people are now confirmed dead and tens of thousands displaced following heavy rains and flash floods in Kenya and Somalia on November 6, 2023.
An estimated 2,400 residents were trapped by floodwaters in the Luuq district of southern Somalia’s Jubaland state. Somalian authorities declared an emergency after the extreme weather killed at least 25 people and destroyed homes, roads and bridges.
OCHA warned that more severe flooding along the Juba and Shabelle rivers should be expected and called for the evacuation of people living along the entire stretch of the Juba.
“The magnitude of the current floods is likely to deteriorate in the next few days due to the emergence of more water upstream in the Ethiopian highlands,” Hassan Isse, managing director of the Somalia’s Disaster Management Agency said.
The heavy rains follow four consecutive years of drought that plunged Somalia into famine.
In neighbouring Kenya, the death toll had risen to 15 since the heavy rains began on Friday November 3, 2023. According to the Kenya Red Cross, the port city of Mombassa and the north-eastern counties of Mandera and Wajir are the worst affected areas.
