Unprecedented floods could worsen
More than 1 million people in East Africa are affected by flooding after higher than normal rainfall, and parts of the region are bracing for a tropical storm that could worsen an already dire humanitarian situation.
The International Rescue Committee said many people had been reeling from an earlier period of severe drought. Now the rains in parts of Somalia, South Sudan and Kenya are expected for another four to six weeks.
‘‘We desperately need help here from anyone who can help us. Things are bad, and help needs to come fast before it is too late,’’ said Mohamed Hassan, one of thousands of people displaced in Beledweyne, Somalia.
The flooding in Somalia, which has caused several deaths, had displaced more than 180,000 people and destroyed crops, aid group Action Against Hunger said. It estimated that the tropical storm, Kyarr, could bring another metre of water to parts of the region.
‘‘For many people, this is the worst flooding in a lifetime,’’ said the group’s regional director, Hajir Maalim, adding that food was no longer reaching many people because roads and bridges were submerged.
In Kenya, government spokesman Cyrus Oguna said 38 people had died as a result of about a month of flooding.
The torrential rain was uncommon for this time of year, he said. Experts have said that changing weather patterns are having a huge impact because close to 100 per cent of the country’s agriculture relies on rainfall rather than irrigation for water.
In South Sudan, President Salva Kiir this week declared a state of emergency in 27 counties because of the flooding. The United Nations says entire communities in some areas have been submerged, disease is spreading, and access to health services is limited.
People in many of the areas already faced acute malnutrition as South Sudan emerges from a five-year civil war. ‘‘I am extremely concerned about the humanitarian consequences of the floods,’’ said Alain Noudehou, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in the country.
Experts called the floods a worrying sign of how climate change was affecting already vulnerable communities.
‘‘The floods are getting worse and they’re happening more frequently,’’ said Nhial Tiitmamer, director of the environmental and natural resources programme at the Sudd Institute, a South Sudanese think tank. The floods there were the worst in six years in terms of the depth and the area affected, he said.