Over 50,000 affected by seasonal floods in Somalia

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Tuesday said that seasonal flooding in several regions of Somalia affected up to 50,000 people.

"Humanitarian partners had pre-positioned emergencies supplies ahead of the flooding, allowing for rapid response," Xinhua quoted Farhan Haq, deputy UN spokesman, as saying at a daily news briefing here.

Starting in October, heavy rains were reported in south-central Somalia and in upper parts of the Shabelle basin in the Somali-Ethiopian border. The floods casued due to the overflow of waters in Shabelle and Juba Rivers.

"The regional climate outlook for the September-December rainfall season indicates an increased likelihood of above to normal rainfall over much of the Greater Horn of Africa," OCHA said.