(ERGO) – More than 400 families in Jalalaqsi district, in Somalia’s Hiran region, are finding it hard to recover from recent flooding of the Shabelle River that destroyed their crops and homes.
Ruqiya Ali Osman, a mother of 10, described her family’s struggle for basic necessities. Two weeks ago, she ran out of the 20 kilograms of food she had borrowed from a local store including beans, flour, and sugar that just ran out.
Her family now relies on irregular assistance from relatives in Mogadishu and neighbouring families in Iji. They manage to cook only one meal a night.
“We are suffering greatly; we are living in a swamp. We can’t stay in a place that has been flooded. There is no decent food we can get – even milk for the children is unavailable. We are overwhelmed with confusion and hardship. There’s nothing left to eat,” Ruqiya told Radio Ergo’s local reporter.
She is caring for her children alone and as the roads are impassable between the towns of El-baraf and Jalalaqsi due to flooding she cannot travel to find work or other support. They are lying on makeshift beds he made from fallen tree branches, keeping the children off the water.
Previously, her family relied on a four-hectare farm in Iji, cultivating various crops for their livelihood. Ruqiya is worried about repaying a $1,300 loan she took to buy seeds for the farm, which is now completely lost.
“The flood destroyed my farm while it was thriving. Now, three months have passed since I last planted anything. My crops, including beans and vegetables, have all perished. I have nothing left,” she said, expressing her despair.
They have resorted to drinking floodwater, as there are no other water sources available. Having lived in the Iji area all her life, Ruqiya and her family were still recovering from a previous loss of property due to clan conflicts earlier this year.
Their three-bedroom house was burned down during the conflict, forcing them to flee to Wadajir village in Hiran for safety. After three months of displacement, they returned in July, only to face this new flood disaster.
Another affected resident, Osman Adan Ibrahim, a father of eight, explained that he had been sending his children to sleep with their relatives who live on higher grounds since 5 October when their house was flooded.
“I feel a great deal of pain watching my family struggle. Some days we have food, and others we go without. We are surviving by the grace of God, but there is a serious crisis here. I even considered moving away to find work and take my children with me, but it hasn’t been possible,” Osman said.
Osman hoped to look for temporary work in El-baraf, Jalalaqsi, and Jowhar but found no transport available to exit or enter the area.
Instead, locals have resorted to makeshift boats constructed from barrels, taking hours to navigate the floodwaters.
Dangerous wildlife have been entering people’s makeshift shelters such as snakes and crocodiles.
Osman had hoped to harvest a yield of sesame worth $1,800 -2,000 but was devastated when the floods engulfed his farm, leaving him with no prospects for recovery.
“I planted 145 granaries worth of sesame, but the floods wiped it all out. My house is also underwater. My life has been turned upside down,” he lamented.
He owes $850, including $650 for food supplies and $200 for seeds he had planted. This is the second time his farm has suffered damage from flooding this year.
The local leader, Isse Omar Yunis, told Radio Ergo that three canals from the river flooded the area, cutting of all roads. He emphasised that the families were facing critical living conditions and that many livelihoods had been wiped out.
“In recent years, we have faced very severe flooding. The worst part is that people have nothing to eat or to shelter themselves. There’s nothing to cook with; the floods have washed everything away,” he said.
He said the floods had persisted for one month and seven days and residents had received no aid or support during this period.
The annual floods caused by the Shabelle and Juba rivers have consistently devastated agricultural livelihoods in the regions they traverse, preventing recovery for many years.
