UN migration agency warns 874,000 Somalians at risk of displacement from flooding

The International Organization for Migration warns that nearly 900,000 people in Somalia could be forced from their homes over the next three months due to flooding. As rising rivers and heavy rainfall threaten communities already struggling with drought and repeated displacement, it says many of the families have very little left to fall back on. The Danish Refugee Council and the IOM project that flooding will account for 92 percent of the displacement as Somalia enters a rainy season forecast to bring above normal rainfall amid strengthening El Nino conditions. IOM is working with Somali authorities to strengthen the early warning system and prepare emergency assistance but right now they've only secured 14 percent of the 16.6 million dollars needed to prepare for and respond to El Nino related events. Rising floodwaters threaten to wipe out crops, devastate livelihoods, contaminate water and cut off access to healthcare and services. Families living in overcrowded displacement camps are particularly vulnerable and flooding will further deepen crisis levels in communities already battered by successive climate shocks.