floods caused by El Niño kill 120 people

The climatic phenomenon has caused torrential rains which affect eastern Africa, particularly Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya.

The torrential rains which paralyze the entire Horn of Africa are impressive. There are many roads cut, destroyed and floods that wash away everything in their path. The latter also isolate entire populations throughout the region, because trucks transporting food, medicine or fuel find themselves blocked and unable to serve certain remote regions.

As a result, cases of malaria and cholera appeared in some areas. This is a dramatic situation, due to the notable return of El Niño to Africa. A phenomenon which occurs especially after four years of drought in the Horn of Africa. In certain regions of Somalia, for example, farmers explained, until a few months ago, that rain had only fallen once or twice a year in recent years. The problem is that when you add absolute drought and torrential rain, you get deadly floods.

Red Crosses launch emergency appeals

Faced with the disaster, they hope to obtain 20 million dollars, because it is a question of helping a population who find themselves with nothing. In Kenya, nearly 90,000 families were displaced in the hundred camps created to accommodate them. In Somalia, the authorities have declared a state of emergency in a country where there are already 700,000 displaced people.

As COP28 opens in Dubai, the NGO Save the Children highlights that these extreme weather events are plunging populations, especially children, into acute food insecurity. The NGO explains that in 2022, more than 27 million children will be affected in the 12 countries most vulnerable to climate change.

The countries of the Horn of Africa are obviously found in these 12 countries. Additionally, half of these 27 million children live in Ethiopia and Somalia. COP28 will therefore aim to have an impact on the daily lives of these children, faced with hunger and victims of human excess.