Flood warning for Somali region

Eleven flood-prone areas in eastern Ethiopia's Somali region could be inundated as rains intensify in April and May, the national disaster management bureau has warned.

Aden Sheik Mohamed, head of the early warning department at the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Bureau (DPPB) in Somali regional state, said it was possible the Wabe-Shebelle and Weyib rivers could flood their banks.

"Our department is trying to create awareness among the communities located near the Wabe-Shebelle and Weyib rivers," Aden said. "We do not yet have numbers, but if there is a flood a lot of people will be affected."

The Wabe-Shebelle, he added, could affect the areas of Gode, Agadle, Kelafo, Mustahil, Ferfer East and West Iley; while the Weyib could affect Cherati, Dollo-bay, Dollo-Ado and Hargele towns.

An assessment by government institutions, United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations has been conducted, he added, and the findings are due to be discussed at a DPPB meeting in Jijiga, capital of the region, later this week.

"According to the local typography and soil moisture-holding capacity, there will be flash flooding," said Yesake Demeke, coordinator of Hydro Meteorological Services under the Jijiga branch of the National Meteorological Agency (NMA). However, he added, the floods were unlikely to be as intensive as last October.

An overflow of the Wabe-Shebelle, Weyib and Fafen rivers killed 80 people in October, and affected another 362,000, including 122,500 who were displaced from their homes.

The region has three rainy seasons: the main one, known as Gu, begins in February and ends in May; the short rains, the Deyr, run from October to November; and the third season is from June to August.

A weekly humanitarian report issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Monday said the Gu rains had begun in Jijiga town and areas within its vicinity.

Ephrem Mamao, general manager of the NMA in Jijiga, told IRIN that in normal climatic conditions the rains would be expected to cover the whole region. "Due to global warming and international meteorological events, the region has shown fluctuations [in rainfall]," he said.

Records show that in the pastoral areas, the main rains were normal in the beginning in most zones of the state, but some areas instead experienced erratic distribution and low rain intensity in April and May.

The Somali regional state, which has hot and arid climate conditions, has a population of 3.8 million living in nine zones and 43 districts.

tw/mw