Floods displace thousands in Ethiopia

Floodwaters have displaced nearly 16 000 people in north-eastern Ethiopia, the UN said on Monday, weeks after thousands of others were affected in the country’s central region.

“Flooding in Afar, caused by the overflow of the Logia River and the Tendaho dam ... on 27 August, resulted in the displacement of approximately 15 600 people,” the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.

The agency said crops and “livelihood assets” were destroyed, roads submerged and bridges swept away.

Flash floods sparked by heavy rainfall earlier in August had displaced more than 11 000 people in the central Amhara region and resulting mudslides killed 19 there, according to the UN.

UNOCHA has warned that nearly 300 000 people could be affected in September as torrential rain continues to pound several regions.

Ethiopia, home to over 80-million, is regularly hit by floods.

According to the World Food Programme, more than 183 000 people were affected in 2007.

In 2006, more than 600 people were killed and a further 300 000 affected by unusually heavy floods that ravaged several regions in the Horn of Africa country.