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Floods
continue raging with the rivers of Shabelleh and Jubba bursting
their banks, devastating entire villages and farmlands in
southern Somalia.
River
Shabelleh has crushed its banks on 12 new points around Jowhar
and Mahadday in Middle Shabelleh region.
According
to the local authorities, the floods seriously affected 23
villages and displaced more than 7,194 families who are now
scattered in the towns of Jowhar, Balad and villages which
still remain above the water levels without food, shelter
or medicine.
Hassan
Nur Hassan, acting governor of the region, declared that the
regional capital of Jowhar, 90 kilometers north of Mogadishu,
was on the brink of becoming an island as the flood waters
got closer to the town from every direction by the day.
The floods
have already cut the road linking Jowhar town to the central
regions including its immediate neighbor Hiran region. The
floods have also devastated farmlands exceeding 21,500 hectares
in the region.
The floods
are also endangering the road linking Jowhar town to Mogadishu,
with the flood water in distance of less than 500 meters from
the main road.
If this
economically vital road is cut, Jowhar town will be left with
only one very sandy road for its connection with the capital.
Jowhar
town depends much of its essential supplies on Mogadishu.
Jubba River, the largest in Somalia, has inundated more than
40 square kilometers between the towns of Jilib and Jamama
of Middle and Lower Jubba regions. Dozens of villages and
thousands of hectares of farmlands have been washed away.
The floods
from Jubba River have already caused serious economic setback
for the southern port city of Kismayu, 500 kilometers south
of Mogadishu, after the flood waters cut off the road linking
the capital to Kismayu.
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