Flood is one of the major natural hazards in ethiopia which causes significant damages to lives and livelihoods in parts of the country. Humanitarian situation reports, response plans, news, analyses, evaluations, assessments, maps, infographics and more on ethiopia. Flooding in ethiopia has recently occurred in all regions. This study focused on finding out flood causative factors and the impacts of flooding on the socioeconomic sectors of dire dawa. Ethiopia floods 8,000 families displaced floodlist. Apr 19, 2015 so flooding in ethiopia affects many people in the region who depend on the nile river for their livelihoods. On 8 september 2017, rainfall attributed to the kiremt rains began falling in ethiopia, leading to extensive flooding. Complex patterns of climate, climate change, and livelihoods. Federal democratic republic of ethiopia national disaster.
In addition to multifactors driven it, governments policies are considered as key development interventions in promoting urbanization. Dire dawa, the second largest city of ethiopia, has been suffering from disastrous floods in its history. In april 2018, flood incidences were reported in arsi zone golelcha and sude woredas. The main impacts of flooding on human health in the area are deaths, malaria, and diarrheal diseases.
Pdf loss and damage from flooding in the gambela region, ethiopia. Chapter 4 flood risk assessment chapter overview any floodplain management program must be established on a sound technical and scientific basis in order to be effective, whether for flood loss reduction or to manage natural resources, or both. Reducing flood impacts through forecastbased action. Climate prediction centers africa hazards outlook may 7 may. A qualitative assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of coping mechanisms article pdf available in global health action 21 october 2009. As a federal parliamentary republic, ethiopia s prime minister is head of government and the president is head of state. At least 250 people have been killed in east africa as severe flooding and landslides devastate the region. Communitys emergency preparedness for flood hazards in.
Jun 25, 2019 five people have lost their lives to flash flooding in ethiopias capital addis ababa while several others sustained serious injuries. After flash floods in april 2016, mohamed hassan, head of norwegian refugee council nrc operations in the jigjiga region in ethiopia, said. Flash floods displaced nearly 120,000 people in ethiopia last month and a total of almost half a million are expected to be affected this year, government and humanitarian agencies said on wednesday. The current estimate for 2015 is also based on this and additional information obtained from the sources indicated in section 1. Ethiopia is struggling with its worst drought in 50 years, but the recent heavy rain may be a case of too much, too late. One of these is the awash river basin located in the rift. Pdf the increased frequency of flash floods in ethiopia. Floods and landslides kill over 100 in ethiopia ethiopia. In august 2006 heavy rain caused the omo river to flood. May 11, 2016 flash floods displaced nearly 120,000 people in ethiopia last month and a total of almost half a million are expected to be affected this year, government and humanitarian agencies said on wednesday. Floods in kenya alfred opere department of meteorology, university of nairobi, nairobi, kenya 1 introduction floods and droughts, associated with extreme climate events, have very devastating effects on almost all socioeconomic activities and are very common in many parts of africa.
Increased frequency of flash floods in dire dawa, ethiopia. Originating in ethiopia, they are somalias only perennial rivers and serve as fertile plains for crop production. Communitys emergency preparedness for flood hazards in dire. Trends and spatial distribution of annual and seasonal rainfall in ethiopia. Lessons from kenya and ethiopia building urban resilience principles, tools, and practice climate change knowledge portal see more see less. Flooding burst the banks of the shebelle river in several locations, destroying houses and crops and causing more than 120,000 people to flee their riverside homes since april 2018. The floods also destroyed crops, cut off transport, and killed three people, said the united nations. The major health impact resulting from flooding are injuries, diarrhoeal diseases, vector borne. Ethiopia is one of the oldest independent nations in africa, dating back to about 100 bc. In the area you have selected ethiopia river flood hazard is classified as high based on modeled flood information currently available to this tool. It is the worlds largest humanitarian organization and its millions of volunteers are active in over 185 countries. The ethiopia humanitarian coordinator urged for preparedness and mitigation measures to mostlypredictable flooding incidents in ethiopia. Natural and manmade disasters and public health emergencies are quite common in ethiopia due to drought, flood, earthquake, volcaniceruptions, epidemics of communicable diseases, dry and wet mass movement 1, 2, 3, 4. Most rural people live in the highlands and middlehighlands, which comprise only onethird of the country, and this population tends to be.
Dec 03, 2019 at least 250 people have been killed in east africa as severe flooding and landslides devastate the region. Ethiopia government announces new flood prevention measures. Coastal areas are also at risk from sea flooding, when storms and big waves bring seawater onto the land. Undp, 2007, climate change and human development in africa. Best practices on flood prevention, protection and mitigation 3 flood forecasting and warning is a prerequisite for successful mitigation of flood damage.
Pdf increased frequency of flash floods in dire dawa. English situation report on ethiopia about agriculture, food and nutrition, idps, epidemic, flash flood and more. Millions of people urgently in need of food aid after string of natural disasters. List of horn of africa tropical cyclones wikipedia. In somali region, heavy rains in the neighboring highland areas of oromia usually cause flooding in the kiremt season. The frequency of natural disasters has been increasing over the years, resulting in loss of lives, damage to properties and destruction of the environment. The number of people at risk has been growing each year and the majority are in developing. Unicef is scaling up its health, water, sanitation and hygiene activities to help. The uks international development secretary, priti patel, urges the. Drought conditions and management strategies in ethiopia. Among the natural disasters, drought is the most devastating one since it has been historically. East africa floods persist, killing at least 250 the. In gambella flooding often occurs during august and september. With further rainfalls forecasted for weeks to come, the situation is likely to worsen.
Ethiopias national disaster prevention and preparedness agency has announced that the government has set up new measures to protect inhabitants from river flooding in floodprone areas as the country expects abovenormal rainfall in the annual rainy season, locally known as the belg rains. Flooding in ethiopia the science behind floods in ethiopia. Study session 11 impacts of climate change in ethiopia. In somali region alone, flooding affected more than 52,170 households 3,000 people, of whom 31,300. Unicef ethiopia humanitarian situation report march 2018. The other two a storm in may 1984 and cyclone sagar in may 2018 traversed the gulf of aden and struck northern somalia. The increase in flooding is a result of climate change as well as landuse change particularly deforestation following resettlement of people to the region from other droughtaffected regions of ethiopia. Five people have lost their lives to flash flooding in ethiopias capital addis ababa while several others sustained serious injuries. Climate prediction centers africa hazards outlook may 7.
United nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs. Rains have been welldistributed over west africa during the past few weeks. The flooding of 6 august, 2006 was unprecedented and caused severe impacts in the city. On 29 april deutsche welle amharic reported that flooding in the south west of ethiopia left 11 people dead and about 5,000 displaced in southern nations, read full article eastern africa over 2. Malaria is also the leading cause of infant mortality 28.
Sep 30, 2017 in ethiopia, rainfall attributed to the kiremt rains, which began on 8 september 2017 has led to extensive flooding. While the rains caused destructive flooding, they may also have been beneficial. This means that potentially damaging and lifethreatening river floods are expected to occur at least once in the next 10 years. Ethiopia dozens killed in floods and landslides floodlist. The horn of africa has experienced the effects of 14 north indian ocean tropical cyclones since 1984, resulting in at least 108 fatalities. Article pdf available april 20 with 1,187 reads how we measure reads. In the omorate area, south omo zone in southern ethiopia, 14 islands have been created by the floods and most. Study session 11 impacts of climate change in ethiopia introduction. Cause and consequence of flooding in dire dawa, eastern ethiopia. May 22, 2018 the ethiopia humanitarian coordinator urged for preparedness and mitigation measures to mostlypredictable flooding incidents in ethiopia. As per urbanrural disparities concerning access to safe drinking water, out of the world population who lacked access to safe drinking water, about 84% were living in rural areas 5. The other rivers where significant floods occur are the wabishebelle river in southeastern ethiopia near the somali border and baroakobosobat river in western ethiopia, near the sudanese border.
Needs, response and gaps flood incidents continued to be reported during the month of may. The central, west, and southwest areas often expect rain in the bleg period but abnormally heavy kiremt rainfall immediately following the belg season can be disastrous or heavy rainfall at the end of the season, due to the soil already being saturated and unable to absorb any extra. The aim of the study was to assess the levels of emergency preparedness for flood hazards at households and communities levels. Analysis of vulnerability and resilience to climate change. In ethiopia, flood usually takes place at the peak of the kiremt rainy season july and. All but two of the storms struck somalia from the east. Ethiopia near the somali border and baroakobosobat river in western ethiopia, near the sudanese border. Floods are worsening the situation for many farmers and droughtaffected communities. Floods 23 august 2006 the federations mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. Its effectiveness depends on the level of preparedness and correct response. It should be noted that while green infrastructure practices make communities more resilient, flooding might not be totally alleviated. Ethiopia ethiopia wereda risk profiles database the economics of early response and disaster resilience. Loss and damage from flooding in the gambela region, ethiopia article pdf available in international journal of global warming 54. Pdf in this article, we explore the ways in which people in the ethiopian gambela region dealt with the extreme flood that occurred in 2007.
Flooding in ethiopia is mainly linked with torrential rainfall and the topography of the highland mountains and lowland plains with natural drainage systems formed by the principal river basins. As many as 456 people died and 20,000 were displaced. The increased frequency of flash floods in ethiopia. Anadolu news agency quoted emergency officials as saying that four people were intercepted by a heavy flood while crossing a river and the fifth fell into a river and taken by a raging flood. In the baroakobo plain an area of about 300,000350,000 ha is prone to annual flooding and in the wabishebelle basin some 100,000 ha may be inundated. Needs, response and gaps flood incidents continued to be. Article pdf available in natural hazards 762 december 2014 with 1,685 reads.
The worst cases of flooding may occur if there is a combination of storms, spring tides and low atmospheric pressure. May 17, 2015 originating in ethiopia, they are somalias only perennial rivers and serve as fertile plains for crop production. Ethiopia flooding flash update, 20 october 2019 ethiopia. Compared to october 26 lower image, the river has widened.
However, intense rainfall in the highlands causes flooding of settlements in a number of river basins. In ethiopia, flood usually takes place at the peak of the kiremt rainy season july and august in most floodprone areas. The ambeira zone in afar region, and special zones surrounding addis ababa the capital, jima, southeast shewa, and southwest shewa in the oromia region have been worst affected by the rains and flooding. Climate prediction centers africa hazards outlook may 7 may, 2020 ongoing heavy rains in east africa continue flash flooding and river flooding in many areas. Loss and damage from flooding in the gambela region, ethiopia. Sagar killed 78 people in somalia, djibouti, and ethiopia. Health sector initiatives for disaster risk management in. In this regard, the impact of urbanization on periurban environment and livelihoods can be evaluated as like any development intervention effects. Climate change is expected to increase the surface temperature of the earth and the oceans, raise sea levels, alter the global distribution of rainfall, affect the direction of ocean currents and major airstreams, and increase the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events. Options to reduce flooding the practices described in this handout can be used to reduce flooding and help communities design a green infrastructure strategy.
In ethiopia, rainfall attributed to the kiremt rains, which began on 8 september 2017 has led to extensive flooding. This study was carried out in dire dawa town, ethiopia, which in the past experienced frequent flooding events, yet dearth of information exists about preparedness in the area. According to the 20042005 statistics of the ethiopian federal ministry of health, malaria has been the most common disease among both outpatients 159,040 cases reported and inpatients 37,839 cases reported. Pdf floods and health in gambella region, ethiopia. Heavy rains starting on november 2 pushed several rivers in southeastern ethiopia over their banks. Located in the horn of africa, and with a population of 84 million, it is the continents thirdmostpopulous country.