Some have sought shelter with relatives, while others have nowhere to turn for food or protection from the rain.

Faisa Mohamed Hassan said the storms that began on 29 October brought down her shelter in Macalin Farah area on the outskirts of Hagadera camp, while floodwater swept away everything inside.

She fled with her seven children, the oldest aged 10, to her mother’s family.

“The water took all our food and the mattresses we slept on. I am afraid the floods will carry away my children. The water channel is close to us, and they nearly got swept away the previous night,” she said.

Faisa, whose husband died of illness three years ago, lived in a shelter made of wood collected from the bush and plastic sheets bought with money she earned from washing clothes. It had a main room, a veranda covered with two plastic sheets where the children slept, and a kitchen.

Their last 116 kg food ration received from the World Food Programme (WFP) in early September was also swept away.

Her relatives, who are also poor refugees affected by the rain, cannot offer much help. Faisa cannot afford to rebuild her shelter while providing for her children. Four of them have stopped attending school following their displacement. She used to pay 2,000 Kenyan shillings a month for their education.

She arrived in the refugee camps in 2008, aged 12, after fleeing insecurity in Mogadishu, and married in Dadaab.

The Hagadera camp chairman said about 100 families had lost their shelters, while hundreds of others had suffered damage but managed to salvage belongings. Many of the worst-affected households were recent arrivals and young couples who had settled in undesignated areas, including drainage channels, making them vulnerable to flooding.

Batulo Mohamed Abdi’s family of nine were not displaced, but floodwater soaked all their belongings. One of their two shelters collapsed completely and part of the other fell in, leaving them with inadequate shelter and food.

“All our clothes and mattresses got wet. Nothing has dried because the rain is still falling. The food we are eating now was given to us by neighbours,” she said.

Her family’s last WFP ration of 25kg of lentils, 90kg of sorghum and 18 litres of cooking oil ran out on 17 October.

Batulo had patched up holes in their shelter using discarded plastic sheets, but these had worn out. She is now using a plastic sheet collected from a rubbish dump tied to wooden poles to protect her children while sleeping.

The family has no toilet. Batulo said they had not received a latrine since arriving in the camp in 2023. Rainwater has mixed with human waste around their shelter, raising fears of disease.

“My seven-year-old child has had diarrhoea for two days. I disposed of the child’s waste outside, but I have no money to buy medicine,” she said.

Batulo has been unable to work for two months because of a kidney problem. She used to earn 3,500 Kenyan shillings a month washing clothes. Medication has not improved her conditions and she was advised to seek further tests in a major town, but has no money.

Her husband, who collects and sells firewood, has been without work for a month after nearby sources of wood ran out. The family fled drought and insecurity in Buale, southern Somalia’s Middle Juba region, in 2023. They had a four-hectare farm that had become unproductive because of poor rainfall.

Batulo said they had nowhere else to go and feared further rain as they lacked adequate clothing and shelter.

Recently arrived refugees have cards allowing them to access limited food aid but continue to face difficulties with accessing water, healthcare, shelter and education.

Hagadera camp chairman Khalif Dhubow Jelle said refugees had received no shelter support for about 10 years, leaving many in weak structures vulnerable to collapse.

“Some people built shelters inside drainage channels because they had nowhere else to settle. The water entered their homes and forced them to flee. There is a serious shortage of shelter in the camps, and we fear the situation will worsen if more rain comes,” he said.

The chairman said the destruction had affected refugees already struggling with reductions in humanitarian assistance, including cuts to food aid and reduced allocations for some of the most vulnerable households.

The destruction comes as the October–December short rainy season is forecast to bring above-average rainfall to parts of East Africa. The IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC), in its August 2026 seasonal outlook, gave northeastern Kenya a 90 per cent likelihood of enhanced rainfall, raising concerns that further flooding could worsen conditions for refugees living in poorly constructed shelters and flood-prone areas.

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Mohamed’s family is staying with another poor household in the Jadiid neighbourhood after losing their home and belongings when rain poured continuously for more than 24 hours. Their house was in a low-lying area and was overwhelmed by floodwater.

“I managed to save only the children. Even their clothes were swept away. They are now sick. One has malaria, while another has a cold and coughs day and night,” he said.

The floods swept away their food supplies, including flour, rice, sugar and cooking oil, which he had bought on $70 credit the previous week. His children sleep in a small shelter they’ve been offered, while Mohamed and his wife spend cold nights outside without blankets. Mosquitoes are a serious problem, frequently biting the children.

They take one of their children with them as they beg for food in the neighbourhood. Sometimes they receive some cooked food and other times uncooked supplies.

“We stand at people’s doorsteps asking for assistance, and that is how we manage to get one meal a day,” Mohamed told Radio Ergo.

His family is among 675 families affected by flooding caused by heavy rain earlier this month, according to the local administration. Residents were displaced from Gumeysidiid, Qumboole and Siigaale, losing homes, livestock, businesses and crops. Many are now sheltering in parts of Janale that escaped the floods.

Floodwater has contaminated local water sources and buried some wells, forcing the family to collect discoloured, muddy water from shallow pools. Mohamed said his children had started experiencing stomach problems.

He also lost his rented farm, where he had borrowed money to grow sesame, maize and tomatoes. He had expected to harvest the crops within a month.

“I rented four hectares of land for the farm. The combined cost of renting the land and cultivating it was $550,” he said. The farm is now submerged under stagnant water, leaving him with little hope of returning to cultivation. He is also worried about repaying the debt.

“The person I owe money to is demanding repayment, but I have nowhere to get the money. The debt is weighing heavily on me, and I feel close to losing my mind,” he said, describing the losses as the worst setback his family had experienced.

Five of his children have stopped attending school. Some local schools were damaged, and he fears sending them to their former school because they would have to cross water channels that could sweep them away. He cannot afford to enroll them elsewhere. Their previous teachers had understood his financial difficulties and accepted whatever payments he could manage.

The floods have placed additional pressure on residents already struggling to support their families. Abdirizak Mohamed Farah, from the Jadiid neighbourhood, is hosting an 11-member displaced family, whilst he can hardly provide for his own household of nine.

His family depended on farming, but their fields were also flooded, and he has no regular employment.

“I am extremely worried because I was already struggling to support my own family, yet relatives have now been displaced and come to stay with us. We do not have enough food or water,” he said. “Even before this, I could barely provide for my family because our circumstances were difficult. The water destroyed the farms we depended on, and there is no other work in this area.”

The two families share a single cramped room in a house with a leaking roof. Abdirizak can’t afford repairs due to prioritising basic food. His children stopped attending school after his work dried up in September and he couldn’t pay the combined monthly fees of $15 for three children in Koranic classes and a language school.

Well water now costs 20 cents per jerrycan. The family uses it only for drinking, relying on river water and stagnant pools for cooking and washing.

Abdirizak travels to farms farther away that escaped the floods, earning $3 to $4 a week. When he cannot find work, he asks former farming clients for assistance, sometimes receiving about 60 cents a day. His family eats once daily and shares whatever food they obtain with the displaced relatives.

The displaced household includes elderly people and children whose home collapsed during the overnight rains. Residents hadn’t been able to protect their houses and couldn’t afford sandbags to keep floodwater out.

More than 1,500 hectares of farmland in and around Janale have been affected, including vegetable fields that had recently been irrigated, according to the local authorities.

Village chairman Abdirahman Yusuf Al Cadaala told Radio Ergo that the administration had recorded 70 destroyed houses. He said they lacked the resources to assist families but were sharing their needs with humanitarian organisations to seek emergency support.

“People need urgent assistance because floodwater has entered their homes. They need food, water and shelter first, followed by repairs to their houses to protect them from further flooding,” he said.

He warned of health risks after the floods destroyed toilets, allowing sewage to mix with water sources used for drinking.

On 21 October, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) warned that nearly 874,000 people could be displaced in Somalia between October and December 2026. Projections by IOM and the Danish Refugee Council estimated that 874,319 people could be displaced during the period, with flooding accounting for 92 per cent of the projected displacement.

Many families in Janale had already struggled through years of poor rainfall and hoped to recover from their economic difficulties. The floods have instead left them facing further losses and an uncertain future.

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Some have sold their remaining animals to finance the move and avoid displacement camps, but the money raised has proved insufficient for them to establish a new life.

Awil Ali Mohamed moved his family to Burao in July after losing 120 goats to a prolonged shortage of pasture and water in Hayira, about 80 km east of the town, shrinking his herd from 150 goats to fewer than 30. His camel also died, leaving him unable to support his wife and seven children in the rural area.

“The drought reduced my livestock until they were close to disappearing altogether,” he said.

Awil sold his remaining goats for $1,370. He spent $700 on a plot of land on the outskirts of Burao and used the rest to buy corrugated iron sheets and materials for a small shelter and latrine.

He goes into town every morning to look for work, but hasn’t found a job. Initially he collected firewood from the surrounding bush to sell, but gave up as it brought in too little money. He later sought work on construction sites, also without success.

“I mostly look for casual labour and loading work. Whenever I see someone hiring, I rush to compete for the job because my children are going hungry. Sometimes we compete with other workers for the same work because eight people depend on me,” he said.

Awil said he had lost hope of building a better life for his family. His children, aged between five and 15, are not in school because he cannot afford the costs. They also go hungry on days when he returns home empty-handed.

They have no neighbours to turn to for help in their isolated home on the town’s peripheries.

Nur Ali Jama, 70, a pastoralist from Talabur village, about 90 km from Burao, also moved his wife and nine children to the town after losing most of his herd of 450 goats.

He arrived in July with only 25 animals left that could no longer provide enough milk or make sufficient income to support the family.

“Livestock were everything we depended on in the rural areas. They provided meat, milk and food, and we could sell them for money. When they dwindled until they could no longer sustain us, we had to leave,” he said.

Nur raised $1,100 by selling livestock, but the money has since run out.

“When I realised the goats could not provide enough milk or fetch much money if sold, I decided to move to town. I asked a woman for a place on the outskirts where I could keep them, and she allowed me to build a pen for my goats,” he said.

The family is living on land belonging to a female relative who agreed to accommodate them after he appealed to her for help.

Nur said adapting to town life had been difficult because he lacked vocational training and experience in urban employment.

“I grew up as a pastoralist and do not know how to drive or have any other trade. In town, people who have a trade are the ones who can earn a living,” he said.

He said his family was struggling to cope and had little hope of improving their circumstances without support.

The coordinator of the Ministry of Resettlement and Humanitarian Affairs (MORHA), Saed Farah Mohamed, told Radio Ergo that the government was planning vocational training and job opportunities for more than 250 affected families.

“We intend, for example, to train women in tailoring and henna application, while men could learn construction and solar equipment installation. If there are no different types of work available, everyone will compete for the same jobs,” the ministry official said.

“As a ministry, we are ready to support them and want to help them overcome these difficulties. The situation has become harder because organisations that used to assist displaced people have not been operating since 2024, while the number of people being displaced continues to increase.”

Without support to develop new sources of income, drought-affected pastoralists face a struggle to rebuild their lives after losing their livestock.

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The heavy rain, flash floods, and strong winds on 7 September killed people and livestock, destroyed hundreds of homes, and damaged the livelihoods of poor families now finding it difficult to recover.

Abdimudalib Ahmed Mohamed, 18, is supporting his eight younger siblings after their mother was killed when their home collapsed in the storm. The family now has no source of income and is surviving on limited assistance from neighbours.

“Our family depended on what our mother brought home and we would not eat unless she provided for us,” he said. “Losing her left us without support. Poverty is the biggest obstacle to our recovery. We now survive on what people around us can give us, but they can’t provide much.”

The family is living in a makeshift shelter after their two-room home collapsed. They can’t afford to rebuild the house. They used to live off $7 to $10 a day from a small business selling charcoal and raw meat that the teenager ran with his mother. His 85-year-old father is unable to work.

“We have no strength or means to support ourselves except for what God may provide. The children are also suffering from stomach problems, which are affecting many children and older people in the town. There are no health services here, and we can’t afford to travel elsewhere for treatment,” he told Radio Ergo.

Abdimudalib left middle school in 2023 because his family could no longer pay for his education. His younger siblings now face the same problem, as Omar bin Abdulaziz Primary and Middle School in El-Gal was destroyed by the storm.

The school was the only one in the area and had 300 pupils. The local administration said rebuilding had not begun. Even if the school is rebuilt, Abdimudalib’s family couldn’t afford the $100 monthly fees for four children who were enrolled.

The storm also affected pastoralists and families who depend on resin harvesting for their livelihoods. Mahmoud Mohamed Abdikarim, who lives in the rural area near El-Gal, said the storm killed 20 of his goats, destroyed their home, and damaged the frankincense trees that provide his family with an important source of income.

“This disaster has affected us very badly. The water swept away everything,” he said. He lost many trees in the storm, which had earned him nearly $1,000 a year in frankincense sales.

He borrowed money from shopkeepers to buy plastic sheeting to protect his family from the rain and has been looking for materials to use as bedding: “Everything is expensive in this village, with prices almost twice those in Bosaso. It is a remote village, and a vehicle travelling from Bosaso takes two nights to reach here.”

The father of seven added that the storm destroyed a house he owned and rented out for $25 a month. Providing for his family has now become difficult, leaving them short of food:

“Only God can get us out of this situation. We depended on livestock and the resin trade, but our livestock have been affected by the storm and the drought. We need any help available, both in the rural areas and in the town.”

Mahmoud said the rain lasted for six hours and came unexpectedly during the dry season. He added that they had not received warnings about El Niño, which is forecast to bring heavy rains accompanied by strong winds to Somalia from October until the end of the year.

The El-Gal deputy district commissioner, Shire Abdullahi Said, said three people and about 300 livestock were killed, and 150 homes collapsed. An assessment by the local administration found that 350 families in El-Gal and surrounding rural areas had lost livestock, farms and small businesses that provided their livelihoods.

“This area had already been affected by drought for a long time and was suffering from a lack of rain,” Shire said, adding that the drought had reduced the local production of resin.

“The drought affected the frankincense and resin-producing trees that people used to harvest, so what we relied on has become scarce. People are now facing similar hardships and there is little difference between their circumstances,” he said.

“In some places, people are still drawing water from the ground because the rain we received did not reach them. These are problems that we do not have the capacity to address.”

Shire said the storm disaster came at a difficult time, as pastoralists had not recovered from long drought that weakened their livestock and left them vulnerable.

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Fosiya Abdi Adan’s family of 10 lost their two-room corrugated iron house in Dhego-sayn neighbourhood of Hargeisa in July in a fire. Fosiya said the family could not afford to rebuild and has been moving between relatives’ homes for shelter.

“I am a low-income person and had been away doing house cleaning work. I returned home at around 2:30pm and found that a fire had started in a small storeroom attached to the veranda, where we kept the TV and other household items. Five young children were asleep, so I woke them and got them out. Everything we owned was destroyed in the fire,” she said.

The family lost the food they had stored at home, along with their clothes. Fosiya’s husband, a schoolteacher, is unemployed, leaving the family unable to afford rent and other basic expenses.

“Today, I have nowhere to turn for food except my mother. I depend on her, and she knows our situation. She is the person I turn to when we have nothing,” she said.

Fosiya’s mother-in-law built the house as the family could no longer afford rising rents in Hargeisa and had endured repeated evictions for failing to pay rent.

“When my husband was working, we could at least provide the children with clothes and other basic needs, but the fire took everything,” she lamented. “I can’t afford to buy them clothes now. The hardest part is seeing my young children without enough clothing. We can only hope that, if my husband finds work, we will gradually replace what we lost.”

Three of Fosiya’s children, aged nine, 13 and 16, have dropped out of school as the family could not pay the $18 monthly fees. They were in grades three, four and five.

Apart from occasional help from relatives, they have no income to meet basic let alone to rebuild the house.

The Somaliland Fire and Rescue Department says most fires are caused by electrical faults.

Abdiqani Suleiman Mohamed, a disaster management specialist at the Cadaalight institution, said some of the main causes of fires include household dividers and poorly maintained or low-quality electrical wiring.

“Sometimes people buy electrical equipment without checking whether the wiring can safely handle the power it requires,” Abdiqani said.

Overcrowded homes and buildings made from materials that do not provide adequate fire protection also caused fires to spread quickly.

“Crowded settlements can contribute to fires, as can buildings made from materials that do not provide enough protection against fire,” he said.

“Many things in our daily lives now depend on electricity, from mobile phones to chargers. As electricity becomes more important, people also need to improve their understanding of the risks.”

He urged the public to take precautions when using electrical equipment, saying community cooperation could help prevent fires and reduce the losses they cause.

Hamda Hashi Guled and her family of 13 are suffered a house fire in September that destroyed their two rooms in Hargeisa’s Ugaaso neighbourhood, along with their bedding, utensils, beds, clothes and other belongings.

“I lost a great deal of property. My bed alone cost $1,500. My children went to school that morning wearing their uniforms, and we also lost many of their books,” she said.

Hamda had been at a Koranic school with a young child when the fire broke out and found that nothing had been spared when she returned. Other family members were away visiting relatives.

The family is now struggling with the loss of its home and the cost of daily living. Hamda’s husband, who worked in house construction, is unemployed. She is also caring for her elderly mother, and has to ask relatives to help pay for her medication.

Hamda appealed for assistance to rebuild the family’s home, saying they could no longer cope with their living conditions.

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Since the beginning of the year, he has been unable to cultivate anything and the loss of farming income has left his family facing food shortages and mounting debt.

“Our livelihoods have collapsed, and drought has made things worse. When you lose the vegetables that sustained your family, you feel the impact immediately. We lost our work and the source of our income. Some people have abandoned their farms altogether,” he told Radio Ergo.

In January, Sahal planted vegetables twice on his two-hectare farm, but both attempts failed because he could not secure enough water for irrigation. Water trucks from Bargaal, more than 100 kilometres away, charge around $12 per barrel, which is far beyond his reach. Sahal’s date palms have lost their leaves and fruit and he fears the trees may die if they are not watered soon.

Natural water channels that once supplied farms in the area have been damaged by land erosion. Wide gullies have cut off roads and damage the natural springs and manmade reservoirs.

Sahal owes more than $1,000, including older loans and money borrowed in recent months to feed his family. Creditors demand repayment, but he has no means of settling the debts. Three consecutive poor rainy seasons have also weakened his livestock, damaging another income source.

Sahal cares for his 78-year-old diabetic mother, who requires regular medication and a special diet.

“Medicine is expensive, laboratory tests cost money, and poor people can’t afford them. There are no nearby services. Everything has become difficult. Imagine an elderly person unable to get milk or the food she needs, that is a huge challenge,” he said.

Five of his children dropped out of school in May after he failed to pay three months’ fees of $20 per child. The children were in grades three, five, and seven at the local primary school.

The villagers in Sayn are all affected. Rooble Mohamed Osman, 59, has also been unable to cultivate his one-and-a-half-hectare farm on the outskirts this year because of the water shortages. Several seasons of poor rainfall dried up the streams that supplied irrigation water, while the area’s rugged terrain makes access difficult.

“The biggest challenge we face is water scarcity. We have endured drought for three years and this year has been the worst. Water levels dropped, roads were cut off, canals and reservoirs were damaged, and large rocks collapsed onto farms and we can’t remove them,” he said.

Rooble, who has farmed for more than 30 years, says he has never experienced such severe conditions. His family is living on the 15 kilograms each of flour, rice, sugar, and cooking oil purchased by his brother in Bosaso on 27 May.

“This crisis has affected us deeply. Compared to last year, the difference is huge. The dates and crops that my children used to eat are gone. We are struggling even to provide rice for the children. We have no source of income. Our lives depended on this farm,” he said.

Rooble owes about $1,500, including money invested in crops that failed because of water shortages, food and water purchased during recent months, and older debts. He says creditors continue to pressure him despite his inability to pay.

Two of his children were forced to leave primary school in April after he failed to pay three months of fees totaling $180.

The chairman of the Sayn Farmers’ Cooperative, Abdalle Ahmed Mohamed, said the challenges facing 2,500 local farmers were beyond the community’s ability to address. He said some damaged areas affected by erosion had been repaired, but the scale of destruction was far beyond local resources.

“These farmers need agricultural equipment, pesticides, irrigation systems, pumps, and solar-powered water systems. Many farms have dried up and been abandoned because of water shortages. We tried to help, but we lacked the necessary equipment and resources,” he said.

Abdalle said the cooperative had repeatedly informed Puntland authorities and aid organisations about the situation, but no substantial assistance had arrived. He warned that agricultural production in the area could collapse entirely, leaving farming households destitute.

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The floods closed 18 free primary and secondary schools in Qallaafe and surrounding villages in Shabelle zone, leaving children facing an uncertain future.

Among those affected is Omar Sheikh Abdi Khayre, who fled from Shubo village to nearby Goobyaal area after floodwaters swept through his community.

Three of his children attending Shubo Primary and Intermediate School have not returned to class since the disaster struck in April. There is no school where they are currently living.

“The children are frustrated because their education has stopped,” Omar told Radio Ergo. “They have lost their routine and now spend their days like rural children with nothing to do.”

Omar, a father of 18 children from three households, said his family is surviving on maize and porridge distributed by the Somali Regional administration. He is uncertain how long the assistance will continue.

The floods destroyed their farmland, food stocks, a small grocery shop that provided additional income, and killed three goats and a donkey used for transport.

“I had two and a half hectares of farmland. Two hectares were planted with sesame and maize, while the remaining land produced beans and vegetables. The floodwaters took everything. I also lost food stocks and livestock. Twenty-one sacks of sesame, maize, and beans were swept away,” he said.

The 60-year-old farmer said the flooding struck at night after rising river water breached the barriers that residents had built in an attempt to protect their homes and farms.

Although he hopes to resume farming once the water recedes, he fears recovery could take months as river levels remain high. He is also worried that floodwaters could reach the area where his family is currently sheltering.

Many displaced families told Radio Ergo they are drinking contaminated floodwater because wells and other clean water sources have either been damaged or remain inaccessible.

Among them is Ibrahim Ali, who also fled Shubo and now lives in Goobyaal, about 10 kilometres from his former home. The father of 17 children said his family were sleeping under trees after escaping with little more than the clothes they were wearing.

“I am deeply worried. I used to live in a proper house, but today I live under a tree. My family is suffering. What we need most are mosquito nets, plastic sheets for shelter, food, and basic household items. We are struggling to survive and cannot cook three meals a day,” he said.

Ibrahim said seven of his children had been unable to continue their education since the floods displaced the family.

“The floods took our food, our belongings, and killed some of our livestock. We left behind everything our children used to eat and wear. A family that once had hopes and plans for the future has lost its livelihood, education, and home. It is deeply discouraging,” he said.

Most of the affected families are farmers living along the banks of the Shabelle River. Their homes, typically built from mud, grass, and corrugated iron sheets, were highly vulnerable to flooding.

The head of Qallaafe zone Disaster Risk Management Office, Mohamed Radi Nur, said the flooding that began on 15 April had affected more than 5,000 households and displaced around 1,600 families across 33 villages.

He said local authorities, working with humanitarian partners, had distributed maize and porridge to 500 displaced households while efforts continued to reach those still awaiting assistance.

“As a district administration, we have made extensive efforts to support affected communities. We distributed 250 quintals of maize to seven villages and recently received 1,068 sacks of porridge from the regional government. Additional relief support is expected in the coming days,” he said.

Mohamed noted that some villages remained cut off by floodwaters, forcing aid workers to use boats to reach isolated communities. A recent assessment by his office found that the floods destroyed 2,315 hectares of farmland, killed 348 livestock, damaged two health facilities, 18 schools, and five water wells.

Thousands of families in Qallaafe whose livelihoods have been disrupted are also very worried about the interruption of their children’s education, with uncertainty over when they can return to school.

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Seasonal Gu rains in March swept through the area in Afdher zone that is known for natural salt production in shallow underground pits. Floods destroyed production sites and thousands of sacks of salt that producers had spent months preparing.

Ibrahim Mohamed Omar said the destruction has left families uncertain about how they will survive. Salt production was the only reliable source of income for his family of six. Since the losses, he has been surviving on occasional casual labour jobs.

“The loss affected us deeply. We felt as though our whole future had been destroyed. For four and a half months we invested fuel, money, and labour into this work, and all of it disappeared. The pain we feel cannot really be measured,” he told Radio Ergo.

He lost 4,000 sacks of salt that could have earned him around $5,000. Some of the salt was washed away completely, while the rest dissolved in stagnant water. He has debts of about $1,000 accumulated from fuel costs, food purchases, and wages for labourers helping prepare the salt.

Ibrahim, 38, said he had been unable to pay school fees for two of his children since February.

Salt producers had expected the risk of flooding and had planned in advance to transport the salt to storage warehouses. However, he blamed delays by a government-appointed committee responsible for coordinating transportation, pricing, and quality control.

“I trusted that my salt would be transported. I could not move it myself because the cooperative and contracted companies were supposed to handle it. We could not sell to anyone else because those companies had agreements with the government. We are not blaming the government itself, but the agreement and delays caused the problem,” he said.

He owns 20 salt pits, all of which are now filled with floodwater. Production cannot resume until the water dries up. He feels lost, he said, and has no savings to fall back on:

“I feel like someone whose house burned down and nothing was saved. That is the kind of pain I am carrying. It happened during a period of high inflation, when the only thing we depended on was destroyed. Recovering from this will not be easy.”

Producers in God-cusbo dig pits between three and five metres deep and pump water into them until salt forms naturally over a four-month period. As rainfall patterns become increasingly unreliable, workers invested in wells to maintain production throughout the year.

Siyaad Omar Roble, who has lived off salt production for the past decade, said he was surviving on borrowed money after losing his harvest. His debts have reached $740 and creditors are refusing to lend him more until he repays what he owes.

“My family has been badly affected because salt production was our only livelihood. Now the rain has taken everything. We are trying to survive, but the pressure is very heavy. Some of the people I support are pastoralists already affected by drought, and they have nothing else to rely on,” he said.

Floodwater destroyed 2,000 sacks of salt from his 20 pits. Still, he hopes to resume production if conditions improve.

“In business, sometimes you profit and sometimes you lose. One loss does not mean the end, so I want to try again. The problem was that the salt stayed too long in the fields. If it had been transported earlier, this damage would not have happened,” he said.

According to Ahmed Barre Jama, a member of the local salt producers’ cooperative, the area contains around 184,000 salt pits. He estimated that nearly 800,000 tons of salt were destroyed by the floods, affecting almost half the population of God-cusbo.

Ahmed said community leaders repeatedly appealed for assistance before the rains intensified, but received no response.

“People were crying out for help to save the salt, but nobody responded to them or even answered their calls. The people themselves have very limited capacity. This is a huge area covering several kilometres, and the salt pits are spread across a very wide stretch of land,” he said.

He warned that recovery may not be possible until next year, leaving many families without their main source of income for months to come.

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The families left villages including Mushani, Garilow, and Barire in November 2025, as fighting between government forces, African Union troops, and Al-Shabab – combined with failed rainfall – drove them to abandon their farms

Farmer Nuur Mohamed Abdullahi, 56, a father of 17, says his large family is struggling to survive in Shalanbood, 11 kilometres from the main coastal town of Merka,

“We find it very difficult to get food. Sometimes we eat only once a day. People who are better off help us with small handouts, but it is not enough,” he said.

The displaced families have settled in open areas outside Shalanbood, where sand dunes driven in off the sea have been building up and causing problems in the area.

They have put up huts built from old cloth and sticks that offer little protection from the sun or the blowing swirls of sand.

Water is a challenge, with the nearest borehole selling 20 litres of water for about 20 cents ($0.2). Nur relies on kindness of other people fetching water from the borehole, who might fill one jerrycan for his family.

“For a family as big as mine, one jerrycan is not enough,” he said. “We use it only for drinking and sometimes to cook one meal. On some days the adults stay thirsty so that the children can drink”

Nuur farmed vegetables and grains on his land. Last August, he planted tomatoes, peppers, maize, beans, and other crops, but drought destroyed them all before harvest.

He lost his entire investment in seeds, ploughing, and pesticides, leaving him with a debt of about $400 that creditors from his home village continue to demand repaid.

“They call me constantly asking for their money. All I can tell them is that I have nothing,” he said.

The crisis has also disrupted the education of his children. Ten of them were in Koranic school in Mushani, where he paid about $50 each month in fees. Since the family fled, they have been out of classes.

Schools in parts of Shalanbood have been affected by sand encroachment, while others charge around $6 per child each month that he can’t afford.

Another displaced farmer, Abdullahi Ibrahim Ali, has a family of 10 to support in these difficult conditions. His wife walks to the western side of Shalanbood, where the sand has not yet reached, to ask neighbouring families for cooked food.

Whenever she returns empty-handed, the family goes to bed hungry.

“We queue for water at a nearby brackish well,” Abdullahi said. “It is never enough for us. If we try to buy more, we cannot afford it, so we must ration what we have even for washing and bathing.”

His family lives in a fragile shack made of branches and plastic sheets given by local residents. The shelter is overcrowded, hot in the day and cold at night.

Four of Abdullahi’s children who were attending Koranic school have no classes to go to now. He fears the family could be displaced again if the sand dunes spreading across Shalanbood continue to advance.

“The sand is covering houses in the town. In some places it rises higher than the buildings, like waves in the sea. It has changed people’s lives,” he told Radio Ergo.

Abdullahi is also burdened by debts of around $330 for food and farm supplies he took from traders in Barire before fleeing. Creditors frequently contact him, but he is struggling to survive without any source of income.

The last crops he planted on his farm in October were destroyed by drought and pests before they could mature.

Local officials say the displaced families arrived in Shalanbood at a time when residents of the town were already facing economic difficulties caused by drought and the sand encroachment.

The district commissioner of Shalanbood, Nur Osman Rage, told Radio Ergo that the authorities had recorded nearly 1,000 families displaced by conflict and drought in the surrounding areas since November.

“These families are facing serious problems, especially food shortages and lack of medical care,” he said. “Many people cannot afford treatment if they become sick.”

He said the sand that has spread across parts of the district has also affected the livelihoods of residents, by disrupting farming and reducing casual labour opportunities.

“People used to depend on farm work and daily labour, but those opportunities are now very limited,” he said. “Businesses in the town are also few, so there are no jobs for the displaced.”

The commissioner added that the local authorities had informed the government and humanitarian agencies about the situation but little assistance had reached the affected families.

The conflict between government forces and Al-Shabab in breadbasket areas of southern Somalia has worsened the impact of drought on already weakened farming communities.

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Mohamed Ali Salad once boasted a large herd of 200 goats, but 170 have perished in the drought. Thirteen of the remaining 30 are sick and too weak to produce milk, meat, or fetch a sale price in the market.

His family of 12 have had no income to depend on since last December. He borrows small amounts of credit from shops in Gurmale village to buy firewood and basic supplies, but sometimes shopkeepers refue him because of his unpaid debts.

“Our situation is hard in every way. We need water, pasture and medicine. I borrow from one person and then another, sometimes I get it and sometimes I don’t,” he said. “We depended on those animals and now there is nothing to sell. The people and the livestock are equal in terms of hunger.”

Mohamed said 30 pregnant goats in his herd miscarried before dying. The young were born dead and the mothers soon followed.

With the harsh jilaal dry season bringing intense daytime heat and cold nights, his family shelters in a makeshift hut made of cloth and tree branches.

They can’t afford to buy water so his wife asks for a single five-litre container of water each day from neighbouring families. It’s not enough for drinking and cooking.

They used to draw clean water from a well in Hingalol, but it has dried up. The nearest alternative source is in Buraan, 85 to 100 kilometres away.

Water trucks charge no less than $170 per delivery and a single barrel now costs $5. Mohamed said the last barrel they received was delivered two weeks ago by local Tadamun Social Society.

Mohamed has $2,000 of debts accumulated over the past 18 months for food, water and household needs. With most of his herd dead and the remainder too weak to sell, he cannot repay what he owes.

Having spent his life as a pastoralist, he said he lacks skills to seek alternative work in town.

Pastoralist in villages such as Sibaye, Gurmale, Qoyan and Jingada are all in perilous situations, with dead and sick livestock and no other means of livelihood.

Ibrahim Ahmed Salah, a pastoralist in Sibaye, lost 57 of his herd of 90 camels and goats. The remaining 33 are weak, some sick, and he can’t afford fodder or water for them. His family of 13 has been unable to meet their basic needs since November.

“Life is extremely hard. We are pastoralists and the drought has hit us heavily. We have no water and very little food,” he said.

“The livestock trade has stopped. There are no buyers and no animals fit for sale. We haven’t had proper relief for a long time.”

In late December, Tadamun Social Society provided his family with 25 kilograms each of flour, rice and sugar, which they have been rationing carefully. He said the supplies are almost finished and they have no other assistance.

Malnutrition and illness are increasing, particularly among women and children weakened by hunger and long-term water shortages. There is no health facility in Sibaaye village, meaning sick residents cannot access treatment.

Ibrahim said pregnant camels and goats in his herd have also been miscarrying and dying. Some goats appear healthy, but when slaughtered their meat is dark and inedible. He worries about the combined impact of disease, drought and debt.

The nearest functioning water source is in Hingalol town, about 120 kilometres away, where water trucks charge $10 per barrel, which he can’t afford.

Three of his children who were attending primary school and Koranic classes were sent home last month after he defaulted on three months of the $5 monthly fees.

Veterinary specialist, Dr Farah Guled Omar, told Radio Ergo that some of the diseases reported by pastoralists are linked to prolonged drought and climate stress. Weak animals with poor nutrition are more susceptible to infections such as measles-like diseases, parasite-borne illnesses, and reproductive complications.

Certain commonly used veterinary medicines could help if administered early alongside better feeding. However, he acknowledged that these measures had not been accessible to the pastoralists due to the prolonged drought-induced crisis.

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