In Somalia, a drought killed 110 people in just 48 hours
Source: Washington Post
The signs of crisis are everywhere. Each day, thousands flood the capital in search of food. More than 7,000 internally displaced people sought help from one feeding center in just a day, a level of demand the center cannot possibly meet. In the country's north, local leaders say that 65 percent of livestock have died. Without rain, there is no food for the camels and goats to graze, and no milk for the children.
On Saturday, Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire offered another stark fact to illuminate the magnitude of the country's drought. At least 110 people have died in the previous 48 hours in a single region of Somalia, he said in a statement. Most of the victims were women and children, killed by waterborne diseases. The families know the water isn't safe to drink, but they have no choice: There are no other sources.
“Outbreaks of diarrhea and some cases of measles are striking down people, mainly children already weakened by hunger,” Abdullahi Omar Mohamed, the chairman of the Ow-diinle village in Bay region, told local news media.
It is the first death-toll announcement the country has offered as it braces for the famine almost certainly to come. More than 5 million Somalis are in immediate need of food, the United Nations estimates. Half the country's population — 6.2 million people — are at risk of famine if conditions do not improve soon. “It's pretty staggering,” Plan Australia Program Director Dave Husy told ABC. “We're looking at 40 to 50 percent of the population facing acute food shortages, and a good proportion would be reaching a desperate state.”
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/03/04/in-somalia-a-drought-killed-110-people-in-just-48-hours/?utm_term=.c2915faf770e
= new reply since forum marked as read
