Nairobi (AFP) – A powerful climate phenomenon in the Indian Ocean stronger than any seen in years is unleashing destructive rains and flooding across East Africa — and scientists say worse could be coming.
Violent downpours in October have displaced tens of thousands in Somalia, submerged whole towns in South Sudan and killed dozens in flash floods and landslides in Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania.
Rising waters have wiped out livestock and destroyed harvests in swathes of the region still reeling from severe drought. Close to a million people in South Sudan alone are affected, with growing fears of disease outbreaks and starvation.
“This is a disaster… People are left with nothing,” South Sudan’s humanitarian affairs minister, Hussein Mar Nyuot, said Wednesday after the government declared a state of emergency.
READ MORE