Emergency aid needed as entire Somali town cut off by floods

Abdi Mahad, the Minister of Disaster Management for HirShabelle state said the people are facing a difficult situation after the floods engulfed the entire town and destroyed their crops and households.

News Keydmedia Online
16 May 2021

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Jowhar, a key agriculture-rich town in southern Somalia is now cut off from the rest of the country after devastating floods caused by the Shabelle river which burst its bank following torrential rains.

The city became a hard-to-reach area with about 40,000 families displaced from their villages submerged in the water, according to the local officials who have appealed for emergency aid.

Abdi Mahad, the Minister of Disaster Management for HirShabelle state said the people are facing a difficult situation after the floods engulfed the entire town and destroyed their crops and households.

The regional state, he said is unable to help the people affected by the flash floods who, mostly the children are currently at risk of deadly water-borne diseases, hunger, and lack of clean water.

Recently, the president of Hirshabelle state Ali Guudlaawe called for an emergency response to the looming humanitarian crisis in Jowhar which was severely flooded by the Shabelle River.

The farming communities in the area, are the worst affected with fears that flooded fields will lead to a serious scarcity of food in the coming months, according to the minister.

KEYDMEDIA English