Khaberni - Officials and local sources said on Saturday that at least 17 people have perished due to torrential floods and heavy rains that swept many areas of Yemen over the past two days, while the Executive Unit for the Management of Displacement Camps reported that 1370 families were affected due to severe storms that hit displacement camps in Al Jawf governorate in the north of the country.
Local sources mentioned that the victims fell in the districts of Mokha and Mawza, west of Taiz governorate in the southwest of the country, while 5 people are still missing.
50 homes were completely or partially destroyed, in addition to the disruption of traffic on roads and the erosion of vast areas of agricultural land and the death of large numbers of livestock.
Field reports confirmed that "Al Najiba" has become a disaster area after dozens of its residents were left homeless due to their homes being flooded and their properties destroyed.
In the same context, the executive unit for the management of camps stated in a statement - published by the official Yemeni agency (Saba) on Friday evening - that the disaster caused severe damage affecting hundreds of displaced families and the host community.
The report stated that preliminary statistics showed that 508 families were completely affected, and 862 families were partially affected, resulting in the loss of shelter and properties, and leaving many families out in the open under extremely harsh humanitarian conditions.
The unit, in its statement, made a distress call, urging UN and international and local organizations for a rapid intervention and emergency response to save the affected families.
Many areas of Yemen, especially the southern, northern, and eastern regions, are currently experiencing torrential floods, heavy rains, and thunderstorms due to a low-pressure system coming from the Arabian Sea.
The United Nations says that climate changes represent one of the biggest challenges facing Yemen, as they exacerbate the crisis of food insecurity in a country classified as one of the poorest Arab countries.
A recent statistic from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen indicates that heavy rains and resultant floods last year resulted in 82 deaths, more than 100 injuries, and destroyed dozens of homes and vital infrastructure facilities including bridges, roads, hospitals, displacement shelters, and agricultural lands, affecting thousands of families across the country.
