Over 60 dead in Somali region floods

Floods have killed 66 people and the death toll could rise further after a river burst its banks in eastern Ethiopia because of heavy rains, rescuers said on Tuesday. Many of the victims were sleeping when crashing floodwaters hit 40 villages in the remote Somali region, some 700 km southeast of the capital of Addis Ababa. Houses were destroyed and families were swept away, emergency officials said. Rescuers are scrambling to reach the survivors in the area, many parts of which still remain cut off from rescue efforts. The Wabe Shebelle is the largest river in Ethiopia, stretching 1,340 km and with a water catchment area of 200,000 km. It burst its banks on Saturday after two days of heavy rains. Flood waters stretched 10 km and forced survivors to flee their homes for the safety of higher ground. Aid organisations and government officials at an emergency meeting in the Somali region capital Jijiga reported on Tuesday that 900 houses had been washed away. Local officials have also reported that some deaths have been caused by attacks from crocodiles that infest the river. Survivors also were clinging to trees to escape the rising floodwaters, officials in the region stated. And, according to humanitarian officials in the area, in some areas the floodwater is still rising. The rains also hit several thousand displaced people living in two former refugee camps, washing away their homes and leaving many of them in the mud. Rescuers are currently preparing an assessment of the scale of damage, which they expect to finalise by the end of Tuesday. "We need food, shelter and fuel to help the people," Ahmed Abdi, from the UN’s World Food Programme in Gode, Somali region, said by telephone. He said 38 people had died in West Imi in Afder Zone while 28 had drowned in East Imi in Gode Zone. The affected population in the two zones is around 110,000. Rescuers also say they fear that malaria could spread. Ahmed said two helicopters are expected to arrive on Tuesday to help reach areas that are still cut off. He added that in some areas the water level was decreasing, but weather forecasters say that heavy rains and thunderstorms are expected in the coming days and over the weekend. The Ethiopian federal government has also sent in two Antonovs aircraft into Gode with food and fuel aboard to help survivors. Flooding regularly occurs at this time of the year in Somali region, where the waters are used to regenerate soil for pasture. In the last major floods in 2003, 119 people were killed.