The Banadir Emergency Department has launched large-scale rescue operations across Somalia’s capital after heavy seasonal rains triggered sudden flash flooding, displacing hundreds of residents and submerging major roads since early Monday.
The extreme weather, part of the ongoing Gu rainy season, has overwhelmed drainage systems in low-lying districts, including Hodan and Bondhere, leaving families trapped inside collapsed homes. Emergency crews are using motorboats to evacuate vulnerable civilians as local authorities warn that rising water levels could worsen disease risks, including acute watery diarrhea, in makeshift camps.
“Our teams have rescued over 250 people from rooftops and flooded buildings since dawn, and we are deploying additional pumps to clear the main supply routes,” said Mohamed Ali Barre, spokesperson for the Banadir Emergency Department, in a telephone interview. He added that shelters have been opened in three districts, though capacity remains strained.
According to a senior official at the Somali Disaster Management Agency, who requested anonymity, early warning systems failed to reach many riverbank communities before the downpour intensified late Sunday. The official noted that at least seven neighborhoods remain inaccessible, and aerial assessments are underway to determine the full scale of property damage.
The Gu rains, which typically last from March to June, have become increasingly unpredictable due to climate variability. Following several years of devastating drought, the region now faces the opposite extreme-flash floods that erode soil, contaminate water sources, and cut off humanitarian corridors. The Banadir region’s outdated infrastructure, much of it damaged by decades of conflict, has proven ill-equipped to absorb sudden runoff.
Rescue efforts are further complicated by limited heavy machinery and fuel shortages, according to local civil society reports. The emergency department has appealed for sandbags, portable bridges, and medical supplies to prevent a secondary health crisis in flooded zones.
