Somalian semi-autonomous region of Puntland officials view a bridge that was destroyed in a tropical cyclone on November 13, 2013. The bridge was located between Garowe and Eyl., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
300 feared dead after tropical cyclone slams into Somalia
By Abdiqani Hassan, Reuters
BOSASSO, Somalia -- The death toll from a tropical cyclone that hit Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region at the weekend has risen to 140 but the final figure could total 300, the government said on Wednesday.
The government has declared a state of emergency and appealed for international aid to help the tiny Horn of Africa region, which is rich in energy resources and is being sized up by oil explorers.
Weather experts at the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said the cyclone, which made landfall on Saturday, was characterized by unusually heavy storms.
Latest rainfall data shows the cyclone has subsided after flooding the coastal town of Eyl, Dangaroyo and the Puntland capital Garowe, though heavy rains are still expected inland.
"So far we have confirmed the storm killed 140 people. We are afraid the death toll may reach 300 because many people are still missing. Roads have been cut and the only access to those areas is by air," Abdullahi Ahmed, Puntland's interior minister, told Reuters late on Tuesday.
The government said it needed clean water, non-perishable foods, medicines, shelter materials and blankets.
Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, whose country is struggling to rebuild after two decades of civil war, has pledged to send $1 million dollars to the storm-hit region.
Puntland said in August it had cut ties with Mogadishu, accusing it of refusing to share power and foreign aid.
The region spans the north of Somalia and has largely escaped the worst of the country's upheaval over the last 20 years.
Foreign powers advocating a loose federal political system for Somalia have held Puntland up as a possible model.
The cyclone's heavy torrential rains caused flash floods that led to the loss of about 100,000 livestock and fishing boats that were swept into the Indian Ocean.
The FAO said about 65 percent of Somalia's population depends on livestock, a sector that has seen sharp growth since Arab Gulf States lifted a nine-year ban on Somali livestock exports. Half of these exports pass through the port of Bosasso in Puntland.
Famine has added to Somalia's woes in the last three years.
"Knowing that livestock and fisheries are key livelihood activities in the affected regions, we anticipate the storm to heavily hurt coastal communities," said Rudi Van Aaken, the acting head of FAO in Somalia, pledging help for the survivors.
2 November 2013
BBC World Service
Somalia's cyclone-hit Puntland declared a disaster area
Somalia's government has declared the north-eastern region of Puntland hit by a tropical cyclone at the weekend a disaster area.
The number of people killed by the cyclone has risen from about 100 to 300, unconfirmed reports say.
Thousands of livestock had also died and hundreds of homes had been destroyed by the cyclone, known as 03A.
More floods were expected during the next 48 hours, Somalia's Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon said.
Puntland is a semi-autonomous region within Somalia, where many people are poor.
'Entire villages destroyed'
The cyclone had swept through the Eyl, Beyla, Dangorayo and Hafun districts along the eastern coast and across to Alula at the tip of the Horn of Africa.
Declaring a disaster, Somalia's Interior Minister Abdikarim Hussein Guled said the central government pledged $1m (£628,000) to help communities devastated by the cyclone.
The government "shared the pain" of communities, Mr Shirdon said.
Nearly 300 people are feared dead in the cyclone, the pro-Puntland government news site, Garoweonline, reports.
On Monday, Puntland's government said up to 100 people had been killed.
"Preliminary information also indicates that homes, buildings, boats and entire villages have been destroyed and over 100,000 livestock lost, endangering the livelihoods of tens of thousands of local people," it said, in a statement.
Relief efforts have been hampered after roads and air strips were washed away.
Electricity has also been disrupted and mobile phone masts destroyed, making communication extremely difficult, the Puntland government said.
Trucks loaded with 60 tonnes of food, clean water and blankets headed are stuck in Puntland's Nugal region because flash floods have made many areas inaccessible, Garoweonline reports.
Puntland's President Abdirahman Farole called on the international community to help, and said helicopters should be used to air-drop relief aid.
"I have buried 10 members of my family, the icy storm and rain killed more than 100 people here," a resident of Eyl, Hussein Abdullahi, told the Reuters news agency on Monday.
"I have never witnessed such fatal cold. Some people were blown away and others died after their houses collapsed on them."
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