The
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on
Saturday warned of high risk of severe flooding in Somalia amid rise in
river levels.
FAO’s Somalia Water and Land Information
Management (FAO-SWALIM) flood bulletin released in Mogadishu warns at
least 150,000 people are at immediate risk from imminent floods as river
levels in parts of the country continue to rise due to torrential
rains.
Ezana Kassa, Head of Programme for FAO in Somalia said
in a statement that it is time to act to ensure the safety and
wellbeing of the people who will be affected by this unprecedented
flood.
According to FAO, the Shabelle River has risen at an
alarming rate over the past week due to the heavy rains, adding that
rains on the upper parts of the Ethiopian highlands are causing large
volumes of water to flow rapidly towards Somalia.
As with the
previous three years, the UN food agency warned of a flood wave likely
to inundate Beletweyne, one of the largest towns in Somalia, in the
coming days.
FAO said the level of damage expected could
supersede the mitigation and risk measures that have already been
implemented, such as rehabilitating river embankments and, as in recent
years, a limited evacuation from flood-prone areas and extensive crop
damage is likely to result.
It said channel crest overflow is
forecast between May 10-13 along the Shabelle River, particularly within
the Hiran and Middle Shabelle Regions, affecting both urban and rural
communities.
It said urgent and collective response is
required to reduce the risk to human lives and livelihoods as an
unprecedented level of rainfall upstream, as forecast, still poses a
high flood risk to riverine communities.
Chris Print, Senior Land and Water Advisor from FAO Somalia said there is a climate emergency in Somalia and in the region, noting that the impacts of climate change on people will be felt mainly through water, driven by pattern shifts in regional weather, particularly rainfall and extreme events.
Read more: https://www.macaubusiness.com/un-warns-of-severe-flooding-in-somalia/
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