Deadly flooding in Beletweyne, Somalia claims lives: Oxfam local partner HARDO says
Beletweyne October 02, 2012 (SDN)- Flooding from the overflowing Shabelle River has left more than 10 people dead in the town of Beletweyne last weekend. Other reports put the death toll as high as 55, with many still missing. More than 8,000 families have been displaced by the flooding, which took place in Somalia’s central region of Hiraan.
“This is bad news for the people of Beletweyne,” said Mohamed Moallim of Oxfam local partner HARDO (Humanitarian Action for Relief and Development Organisation). “Heavy rains with river flooding left many people dead, including nine beneficiaries of our ongoing nutrition project at the Nasiib camp for displaced persons.”
Beletweyne received 188mm of rain in only a 24 hour period, according to SWALIM (Somalia Water and Land Information Management). Although Somalia is known for frequent droughts, the disaster prone country also suffers from occasional flooding. Added to this, with El Nino conditions predicted, flooding could get more severe over the coming months.
The nutrition project in Nasiib is supported by Oxfam in partnership with HARDO. Oxfam extends its condolences to the families of those children who lost their lives in the flooding. The program which began in April this year, has admitted more than 1700 malnourished children.
“At the moment our staff are assessing the damage from the floods,” said Mohamed of HARDO. On behalf of the people of Beletweyne, HARDO has issued an urgent plea for help to all concerned agencies and organizations, to immediately provide the necessary aid in order save lives and prevent human suffering. Oxfam remains committed to helping families in the region, as it has begun planning with HARDO on how to respond to this new flooding crisis.
Many families already displaced from other regions have lost their shelters from the flooding
With this new disaster, Oxfam is planning to help those families affected by the flooding with programming for food security, livelihood support, as well as clean water and sanitation projects. Working together with HARDO, planning is underway to bring this aid to Beletweyne as soon as possible.
More than 4000 herd animals have been lost, including 1500 goats that were earmarked for export. The dead animals and muddy waters have raised the risk for waterborne disease in the area.
Source: Oxfam