Ethiopia has asked for international assistance to contain the effects of flooding as hundreds of people are reported dead or missing, and neighbouring Eritrea reported damage to about 1,000 homes.
In a statement, Ethiopia's Southern Nation and Nationalities Peoples' Region (SNNPR) and the information ministry asked the international community to provide humanitarian support to more than 10,000 people displaced in the south on Sunday when the Omo river flooded.
"Now it is beyond our capacity. We ask the international community to stretch its hand in supplying humanitarian assistance, rescuers and other related support to the flood-affected people and the displaced," Shiferaw Shigutie, president of the SNNPR, said on Thursday.
In Eritrea, a statement from the Ministry of Information said heavy rains on Friday fell on Tessenei town, Gash-Barka region, destroying the homes of about 1,000 people. The displaced are being sheltered in schools. The rains, the statement added, also damaged electric poles and trees in the town.
The first floods in Ethiopia hit Dire Dawa city in the south more than a week ago, killing hundreds. Then the Omo River burst its banks at the same time as other rivers in Tigray Amhara and Oromia regions.
According to a Famine Early Warning Systems Network weather assessment report for the Horn of Africa published on Monday, the flooding resulted from excessive rainfall in the Ethiopian highlands.
"With rainfall unlikely to relent during the coming weeks, rivers throughout the region will continue to rise, potentially bursting their banks in isolated locations," the assessment noted. It cited the Blue Nile, the Omo and others whose basins are largely in the highlands and are therefore at risk of bursting their banks.
The NGO, Christian Aid - UK said the flooding in the Omo delta had created islands where thousands were stranded. "With little shelter or food they are exposed to terrible weather conditions and are vulnerable to attack from crocodiles," it said in a statement, adding that at least 30,000 people were in need of emergency help.
"The current situation is very different from what we are used to in Ethiopia. We are used to dealing with drought - the problem of floods is new," Abiy Hailu, Christian Aid's country representative in Ethiopia said.
[See related stories]
dt/mw/eo
In a statement, Ethiopia's Southern Nation and Nationalities Peoples' Region (SNNPR) and the information ministry asked the international community to provide humanitarian support to more than 10,000 people displaced in the south on Sunday when the Omo river flooded.
"Now it is beyond our capacity. We ask the international community to stretch its hand in supplying humanitarian assistance, rescuers and other related support to the flood-affected people and the displaced," Shiferaw Shigutie, president of the SNNPR, said on Thursday.
In Eritrea, a statement from the Ministry of Information said heavy rains on Friday fell on Tessenei town, Gash-Barka region, destroying the homes of about 1,000 people. The displaced are being sheltered in schools. The rains, the statement added, also damaged electric poles and trees in the town.
The first floods in Ethiopia hit Dire Dawa city in the south more than a week ago, killing hundreds. Then the Omo River burst its banks at the same time as other rivers in Tigray Amhara and Oromia regions.
According to a Famine Early Warning Systems Network weather assessment report for the Horn of Africa published on Monday, the flooding resulted from excessive rainfall in the Ethiopian highlands.
"With rainfall unlikely to relent during the coming weeks, rivers throughout the region will continue to rise, potentially bursting their banks in isolated locations," the assessment noted. It cited the Blue Nile, the Omo and others whose basins are largely in the highlands and are therefore at risk of bursting their banks.
The NGO, Christian Aid - UK said the flooding in the Omo delta had created islands where thousands were stranded. "With little shelter or food they are exposed to terrible weather conditions and are vulnerable to attack from crocodiles," it said in a statement, adding that at least 30,000 people were in need of emergency help.
"The current situation is very different from what we are used to in Ethiopia. We are used to dealing with drought - the problem of floods is new," Abiy Hailu, Christian Aid's country representative in Ethiopia said.
[See related stories]
dt/mw/eo
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
Share this article
