ETHIOPIA: Floods ravage remote Somali Region

Photo: IRIN

People displaced by the floods in Hargeysa, Somaliland.

KELAFO, SOMALI REGION, 10 May 2005 (IRIN) - Abdi Omar Elmi was sleeping when floodwaters swept his six-year-old son to his death. Seconds later, he said, crocodiles seized his two nephews and dragged them off as the surging torrent washed away their traditional stick hut. "I have lost everything," said the 40-year-old farmer from the safety of nearby Kelafo town in Somali Region, a desolate area of eastern Ethiopia. He never found the bodies of his nephews or his son, Farah. Somali Region, which is normally drought-stricken and has an average rainfall of a little over 250 mm a year, has been battered by heavy rains and flooding. Government officials estimate that 155 people have died in the deluge that began on 23 April. They say disease outbreaks among flood survivors could kill more. Wearing the clothes he managed to flee in, Abdi added: "We didn’t expect the flood. It was dark and we were trying to grab things to take with us but we did not have any time. "The water was rising so quickly and was up to my chest. My wife put one of our children on her back and was holding the others. But Farah slipped out of her hand." Although floodwaters had subsided in many areas by 6 May, hundreds of villages remained cut off. Nearby Mustahil was still inaccessible. Trucks waiting to deliver aid were stranded underwater on the sole road leading to the town. Abdi, a father of 14, was still living on a hillside under plastic sheeting. His home and farmland, which lie 10 km from the Wabe Shebelle River, were still underwater. The crocodile-infested river is the largest in Ethiopia and snakes its way 1,300 km from the Ethiopian highlands into Somalia before pouring into the Indian Ocean. It burst its banks after days of torrential rain and was still five metres above normal level. More rains were expected. Somali Region regularly floods, and the water plays a vital role in the local ecosystem by regenerating pasture for animals and farmers. Officials said, however, that this time the floodwaters left in their wake a trail of destruction. Because of the scale and timing of the flooding, many people were killed. Mesfin Andargie, a government health and nutrition expert who was dispatched to the region to assess the crisis, said they now feared the spread of disease: "We are concerned about malaria, diarrhoea and cholera. We need medicines and have to get clean water to people as a priority." He said they already had cases of malaria, dysentery and bilharzia infections. Relief aid is vital in this part of the world, where millions eke out a hand-to-mouth existence, living each day on a knife-edge. Usually sun-parched, it is one of the poorest and least-developed regions in Ethiopia, lacking telephones, roads, schools and hospitals. The floodwaters have isolated villages from food and medical aid. Two military helicopters that were bringing in support had been pulled out. In Gode, some 1,000 km away, about a thousand mt of wheat sat in a warehouse. Two boats, covered in dust, sat alongside a broken propeller all that had stopped them being mobilised to ferry in supplies. Mardi Hassan, the chairman of Kelafo District, 900 km southeast of the capital Addis Ababa, said 14 people had died in his borough – and six bodies were still missing. "People were sleeping when the floods came and that was why it was so bad," he said. "It was mainly the old and the children who died," he added, saying they were the worst floods he had seen for a decade. Of the local population of 165,000, almost 12,000 people were homeless. Some 500 ha of farmland were destroyed. Around Kelafo's flattened villages, a ring of compacted, still-damp straw was the only sign that some settlements once existed there. Officials estimate 84 villages were destroyed in this area. A week ago, the 1,600 sq.km Kelafo district received 350 cartons of biscuits, some plastic sheeting and blankets. "This is not even enough for one village," 28-year-old Mardi said. "I do not know why we are not getting any more help." According to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), serious damage was also reported in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Hartishek and Fafen in Jijiga zone. Up to 155 shelters had completely collapsed or disintegrated. An assessment team, OCHA reported in a situation update on Monday, had found "mud mixed with feaces and large amounts of standing water throughout the camp". As a result, the physical condition of the IDPs - especially children - was poor. OCHA also reported that two "kebeles" in the Humbo "woreda" of Wolayita zone had flooded after the Bilate River burst its banks. It reportedly killed two people, displaced 6,755 and destroyed 1.017 ha of crop land as well killing livestock. The Ethiopian government said it was trying to get aid in, but remote villages were still unreachable, hampering relief efforts. Simon Mechale, head of the federal government’s emergency services, told journalists: "It is a very difficult operation. We are having difficultly transporting relief into Somali Region. Some of the areas are still inaccessible. "But I think in the end we have managed to distribute some aid to ease the difficult situation in these areas," he added.