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Somalia: Tropical Cyclone - Nov 2013

Disaster description

The State of Puntland in the North Eastern part of Somalia was hit by a tropical cyclone on 10 Nov 2013. The cyclone and the subsequent flash floods caused massive destruction resulting in the deaths of 162 people, displacement of tens of hundreds of nomads, decimation of approximately 1 million livestock and destruction of over 1,000 houses according to Government statistics.

Livelihoods for the pastoralists, agro-pastoralists and fishermen suffered severe losses with the pastoralists losing between 70 to 90 percent of their entire livestock. The farmers who depended on irrigation lost their entire crops and equipment used for pumping water. The fishermen had their boats damaged and their fishing gear destroyed by the flood waters.

The Government of Puntland declared a natural disaster on 11 Nov and requested international assistance to assist the people of Puntland. Critical assistance required by the affected people started arriving on 14 November 2013, with contributions received from major humanitarian organizations led by the Government of Puntland.

By the beginning of December, the focus was on recovery efforts. Most of the roads, which were previously cut off, are now accessible and donations of food and non-food items are streaming into the affected communities. As of 24 Nov, over 5,000 households had received food and NFIs from various agencies including the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Organization for Migration, Puntland Government, the local and Somalia Diaspora community. (IFRC, 11 Dec 2013)

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