Weather
The number of flood victims in Somalia is rising – almost 100 dead
The worst floods to hit Somalia in decades have killed many people and forced thousands to flee their homes. photo
© Farah Abdi Warsameh/AP/dpa
Long periods of drought are not uncommon in Somalia. But now the El Niño phenomenon is completely reversing the weather. Millions of people are now affected by flooding.
In the past few weeks there have been… According to the UN, almost a hundred people have died in floods in Somalia. As the UN emergency aid organization OCHA reported on Wednesday, the number of deaths has risen to 96 and 746,000 people have fled their cities and villages to escape the floods. A total of two million people are expected to be affected in the country in the Horn of Africa.
The floods are a result of the persistent rain associated with the El Niño weather phenomenon. The East African neighboring country of Kenya is also severely affected.
In recent years, Somalia has been severely affected by drought. The El Niño phenomenon, caused by a warming of the tropical Pacific, causes, among other things, a “reversal” of the weather with heavy rain in drought areas and drought in otherwise rainy areas.