UN reports 22 deaths from flooding in Somalia

Somalia’s Beledweyne (AFP) – According to the UN’s humanitarian organisation OCHA, 22 people were killed and over 450,000 were impacted by flash floods in central Somalia as the Shabelle River burst its banks and drove tens of thousands of people from their homes.

In Beledweyne town in the Hiran area, where there had been heavy rain earlier in the week, water gushed into homes, drowning roads and buildings as inhabitants grabbed their possessions and waded through flooded streets in search of safety.

“Initial estimates indicate that the flash and riverine floods across Somalia have affected at least 460,470 people, of whom nearly 219,000 have been displaced from their homes, mainly in flood-prone areas, and 22 have been killed,” the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated.