Somalia Situation Report, 17 Nov 2019 [EN/SO]

HIGHLIGHTS

• Flooding in Somalia has affected 547,000 people; 370,000 people are displaced and 17 killed. Livelihoods have been disrupted in the worst-affected areas.

• Humanitarian agencies and their partners have reached at least 105,000 flood-affected people in Somalia but significant gaps remain in the provision of assistance.

• The year 2019 has been another tumultuous period for Somali farmers after the last 2019 Gu’ season produced southern Somalia’s lowest cereal harvest in decades.

• Besieged towns and restricted access blocks an estimated 77,000 people from receiving assistance.

• Donors have been swift in providing funding to the Somalia Humanitarian Fund but needs remain higher than available funds.

FEATURE

Just over half a million people impacted by floods; lives, property and infrastructure lost

Flooding in parts of Somalia has impacted more than 547,000 people, of whom 370,000 have been displaced from their homes, according to the UNHCR-led Protection and Return Monitoring Network. At least 17 people have been killed since flooding started on 21 October. Farmland, infrastructure and roads have been destroyed, and livelihoods disrupted in some of the worst-hit areas. In Middle Shabelle, more than 10,000 hectares of cropland has been damaged in Jowhar and Mahaday Weyne. Flash floods have also damaged crops and houses in Janaale and over 200 hectares of farmland in Marka, Lower Shabelle.

Worst affected areas

The worst affected districts are Belet Weyne in Hirshabelle State where 231,000 people have abandoned their inundated homes and Baardheere in Gedo region where 55,000 people have been displaced by the floods. In Berdale, South West State, an estimated 30,000 people, many of them women and children, have been displaced by flash flooding due to heavy rains. The town, which is 60 km west of Baidoa, is cut off as most roads are impassable.

Most affected people have moved to higher grounds and are in desperate need of aid. More than 2,000 other families are affected by the rains in Doolow. The floods were triggered by moderate to heavy Deyr seasonal rains that started early in September in many parts of Somalia and the Ethiopian Highlands, where the Juba and Shabelle rivers originate, according to the FAO-Managed Somalia Water and Land Information Management (SWALIM). Entire reaches of the Juba and Shabelle rivers have seen high water levels resulting in flooding in Hirshabelle, Jubaland and South West states. Flash flooding was also reported in Banadir region, Jowhar in Hirshabelle, Ceel Cade and Jamame in Jubaland and in some locations in South West State.