Residents of Beledweyne town in Hiran district were forced from their homes after heavy rains caused the water level to rise sharply, carrying their belongings overhead as they walked through the flooded streets looking for shelter.
“So far, around 200,000 people have been displaced due to the flooding of the Shebil River in the town of Beledweyne, and the number may increase at any time,” said Ali Osman Hussein, Deputy Governor for Affairs. of the Hiran region.
“We are doing our best to help those affected,” said Hussain, quoted by the French Press Agency.
For his part, the region’s deputy governor, Hassan Ibrahim Abdullah, said on Friday that “three people died in the floods”.
The disaster follows a record drought that has brought millions of Somalis to the brink of starvation.
Residents told AFP they were forced from their homes in the middle of the night earlier this week as water poured onto streets and buildings.
Fartun Ali (a pseudonym) said it was the fifth time she had fled the floods in Beledweyne.
“When the river overflows, we run away,” says Vartoon Ali, 35 and mother of eight.
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