UN says 1.6 million people affected by heavy rains, flash floods in Eastern Africa

EAST AFRICA – Heavy rains and flash floods have affected an estimated 1.6 million people in Eastern Africa, the United Nations (UN) relief agency said on Wednesday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that as of May 17, 473 people in Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Tanzania had lost their lives.

Additionally, the office indicated that nearly 410,350 people had been displaced.

This is according to a report by the Xinhua.

“Humanitarian agencies across the region continues to support governments in search and rescue operations, conducting needs assessments, pre-positioning available stocks, and providing urgent assistance.

“Additional funding to scale up response as heavy rains and floods spread is needed,” it said in a Floods Update released in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya,” OCHA said.

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