Drought and flooding going hand in hand causes problems... by Penny Tranter
Flooding is the big weather story of the day. Heavy rains have caused major and devastating flooding especially after persistent drought, in Ethiopia and Somalia, Georgia and Kazakhstan, and also Vietnam.
In southeast Ethiopia and north Somalia there has been a prolonged drought, and then during the last few days, torrential rain fell over the Highlands. This has caused local flash flooding and also several rivers to burst their banks, including the Wabe Shebelle, with people, buildings and livestock swept away in the raging waters. Some people have been spotted still clinging to trees in a desperate attempt to avoid being swept away.
Roads have also been hit, with many now impassable, which has resulted in food and medicines having to be flown in by helicopter to meet the emergency needs of stranded people.
In the worst reported flood since 1953, Hargeisa, the capital of Somalia’s northern enclave of Somaliland, saw a flash flood charge along a dry riverbed ripping through the centre, damaging bridges and knocking out power, water and telephone lines, resulting in one district being left without water. The turbulent waters also uprooted trees and swept away many cars, leaving them hanging on the riverbank or buried under mud.
Five days of lashing rain has turned several regions in west Georgia into disaster areas. Overflowing rivers have left residents from dozens of villages stranded, their houses flooded and streets turned into fast and wide streams and lakes. The Racha-Lechkumi region, which is one of the worst affected, is being evacuated, but this work is being hampered by continuing rain. Landslides have also led to many villages being cut off from the outside world.
In Georgia’s second city, Kutaisi, most of the bridges over the Rioni River have been closed because of dangerously high water levels. Residents say that water levels have not been so high in living memory. Rescue equipment can not be used to help until the weather conditions improve.
In Kazakhstan flooding is a current feature of part of the steppe, a flat featureless expanse that covers much of the Central Asian state. As a result, a Russian space capsule had a complicated landing there on Monday.
In the Central Highlands region of Vietnam, which is known as the coffee belt, heavy rains fell over the weekend, helping to relieve a long running drought. Last week the coffee growers were predicting that the drought could reduce the next coffee crop by one-third. But even though local forecasters were reporting that the rainy season had begun and more rain was expected, many growers said the next crop would still be affected because many trees perished before the rains arrived.
In the UK after a dry spell of weather in the south during the early part of this year, we are now seeing the reservoirs topping up. Although, a spell of very wet weather for many on Thursday could bring localised flooding, especially to some western areas, but it will not be on the same scale as has happened in Ethiopia, Somalia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Vietnam.
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