77 killed in Yemen floods affecting 200,000 people: UN

UNITED NATIONS: Local authorities in Yemen have reported 77 people killed, including children, in flooding from mid-July to mid-August that affects more than 200,000 people, UN humanitarians said on Wednesday.

Heavy rainfall triggered flooding across 16 of the 20 governorates in the country, particularly impacting sites of displaced people, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

“The United Nations and its partners are working to support the worst affected families with shelter, food assistance, water, sanitation and hygiene services and other critical supplies,” OCHA said.

Early reports from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization warn of continued heavy rainfall up to Saturday in many of the already affected areas, with up to 20,000 people estimated to be affected.

OCHA said a severe lack of funds limits humanitarian partners responding to the flooding, with many of the main sectors for the response critically underfunded. The camp coordination and management cluster has received less than 1 percent of the required funding this year. The Rapid Response Mechanism cluster has not received any of its funding.

The world body encourages all donors to increase support for Yemen’s humanitarian response plan, OCHA said.

-Xinhua