Yemen flood toll climbs to 60, thousands affected: UN

AFP | Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com

Flooding caused by torrential rainfall in wartorn Yemen has led to at least 60 deaths since July, with 13 others still missing and a total of 268,000 people affected, the United Nations said Monday.

Yemen, already grappling with an almost decade-long war, suffers from severe floods  on a near-annual basis that are triggered by torrential rainfall, while climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of precipitation. Since July, flash floods have caused 36 deaths in Hodeida province, nine in Ibb, eight in Marib and seven in Taiz, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said in a report released on Monday.

“Public infrastructure, including schools, roads, and health facilities, have been affected. Livelihoods that were already hanging by a thread have been swept away,” OCHA said. At least 600 people were injured due to flooding in Hodeida and Marib alone, it said, adding that a total of 13 people were still missing in Hodeida and Taiz.

It added that a total of 38,285 families nearly 268,000 people have been affected, saying that “severe weather is expected to persist into September, with additional alerts for heavy rainfall.”