'Once-in-a-Century' Flooding Hits Somalia, Displacing Over 300,000

UN warns of increased humanitarian needs and potential destruction of 1.5 million hectares of farmland due to extreme weather linked to El Niño and the Indian Ocean Dipole.

The United Nations has released $25m in aid to help Somalia deal with the 'once-in-a-century' floods, which have been worsened by the combined impact of two climate phenomena - El Niño and the Indian Ocean Dipole.
At least 29 people have been killed and more than 300,000 displaced due to the floods, with the UN warning that around 1.6 million people in Somalia could be affected by the heavy seasonal rains.
The floods have also caused large-scale displacement and increased humanitarian needs, with camps for people displaced by an Islamist insurgency and the recent drought also being flooded, causing people to flee for a second time.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned that some 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres) of farmland could potentially be destroyed due to the floods.
Somalia, considered one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, is experiencing heavier than normal rains after emerging from one of its worst droughts in four decades.