Drought, Torrential Rains Devastate Somalia
Voice of America
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - The United Nations warns Somalia faces a perilous future as drought followed by torrential rains have destroyed this year’s planting season.
Somalia is one of the countries in the world most prone to the erratic and calamitous impacts of climate change. It has been hit by a double climate disaster for more than two weeks that is likely to worsen its already acute situation of food insecurity. The drought, which was declared on April 25 was soon followed by torrential rains that caused flash floods and rivers to overflow. The U.N. organization for the coordination of humanitarian affairs reports the rains came too late for the planting season. OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said floods have killed at least 25 people in various parts of the country. The victims include nine children who died when their house flooded in the Benadir region, in the capital, Mogadishu.Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.