The official also noted that the death toll as well as the number of people displaced is likely to rise further as many people were trapped by floodwaters.
In addition to the death toll and those displaced at least 850,000 others have been affected, due to the floods, said Mohamed Moalim Abdullahi, chairman of SOMDA, late Tuesday, as per AFP.
At least 2,400 people have been cut off in Luuq town, where the Jubba River burst its banks, said the United Nations. Meanwhile, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, on Wednesday said rescue efforts were being delayed because roads had been cut.
“Inaccessible roads and stuck vehicles are just some of the challenges aid workers in Somalia are grappling with,” said the UN agency in a post on X, adding that they are “racing against time” to rescue 2,400 people trapped by rising flood waters in Luuq, on the road linking the Somalia-Ethiopia border with Baidoa.
“Luuq is surrounded by the river and floods are threatening us. People keep fleeing out of the town. Some are still trapped. Our shops have been washed away,” said Ahmed Nur, a trader in Luuq, as quoted by Reuters.
Situation in neighbouring countries
Since the beginning of this month, at least 15 people have been killed after flash flooding in Kenya, while more than 20 people have died and over 12,000 have been forced from their homes in Ethiopia’s Somali region.
Floods in Kenya have also submerged a bridge in Uganda, cutting off a road linking Kampala to oilfields in the northwest, said Kenya Red Cross and Uganda’s road authority.