Torrential rain brought horrendous flash floods to several parts of Yemen over the weekend. The recent storms and heavy rainfall began to fall on 16th August, and continued until the next day. As many as 50 people have been reported killed as a result of floods and lightning strikes..
In Odain (Udayn) district 16 people were found drowned after they were caught up in raging flood water. Several more people are still missing. 7 people have also drowned in flood waters in Hodeidah.
27 people were tragically killed in Taiz after a wedding party was swept away by flood waters while they were driving across a valley on Saturday 17th August. The victims were mostly women and children and were in three vehicles accompanying the bride (who survived) to her new home across Wadi Nakhla valley. As many as 40 people are still missing and rescue teams are still carnying out searches.
Yemen suffered from floods after the 2008 Yemen Cyclone struck in October of that year. The country also experiences twice-yearly monsoons (mid march to mid April, then July to September) where the monsoon rains are frequently heavy enough to bring flash floods to parts of the country. In March 1989 heavy rainfall caused severe flash floods which damaged housing, farmland and transport, leaving 30,000 homeless and economic losses of around 13% of GDP. In 1996 floods struck again with similar devastating economic losses and 338 fatalities and 20,000 homeless.
Map:
[mappress mapid=”73″]
Sources: ABC Australia, Yemen Post
