Thirty families displaced by floods in Ari-Moog and Irdoole villages

At least 30 families are displaced and a dozen homes are destroyed by flood water in lower Shabelle region.

Residents who live in Ari-Moog and Irdoole villages were forced to abandon their belongings, their homes are now submerged in flood water after river Shabelle flooded to the areas.

Abdi Osman a local administrator said that at least 30   families were forced to evacuate this week.

“A lot of folks are staying with relatives but when the clean up time comes we will have to help them get back into their homes,” he said. “If not, we will get them into other homes.” He said.

“We don’t have any normalcy,” Fatuma Ali said as her children sat around her on the a bed made of sticks. “And I fight with that because we’re still all together. So many people lost their property during the flood so I try to keep things in perspective. But with me being the only parent, the only one, I have to try to stay strong, even when I’m weak, for them. And it’s just been really, really hard.”

Heavy rain hit these homes hard and fast, now residents are focusing on the clean up.

For decades, torrential rains and floods have devastated Somali regions and weakened a population already suffering from the ravages of civil war and recurring drought.