Floods kill about 270, displacing tens of thousands in Horn of Africa: report

A boy is pictured after a section of the road was washed downstream by raging floods on the Garissa-Mombasa highway, Kenya on Nov. 23, 2023. (Photo by Fabian Mangera/Xinhua)

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Nearly 270 people have been killed and more than 900,000 displaced by floods caused by ongoing rains in the Horn of Africa, said the Climate Prediction and Applications Center (ICPAC) of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development Wednesday.

Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia are the worst hit by the current El Nino rains and the Indian Ocean Dipole weather phenomena, the ICPAC said in a report, stressing that Somalia and Kenya have borne the brunt of these climate-induced rains, ongoing for over a month.

"The Horn of Africa is currently facing intense rainfall and flooding attributed to El Nino. This has resulted in the loss of lives, both human and animal, and significant displacement in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia," the institution said.

Local authorities reported nearly 100 deaths in Somalia, 120 in Kenya, and 46 in Ethiopia due to the severe weather.

The ICPAC said that Somalia has the most displaced individuals at 700,000, followed by Kenya at 136,000 and Ethiopia at about 50,000.

The total population affected by floods, according to the ICPAC, is estimated to be over 1.5 million in Somalia, 950,000 in Kenya, and 101,890 in Ethiopia.

The report also indicated extensive destruction of farmlands due to the floods across the three countries.