Floods Rip Through Somaliland Capital
Date: 26-Apr-05
Country: SOMALIA
The flood on Sunday night ripped through the centre of Hargeisa, damaging bridges and knocking out power, water and telephone lines.
The 270 families displaced by the flood are now staying at the main emergency police compound in Hargeisa.
"Three of the main pipes that carry water to the city have been taken away by the flood," Hargeisa Governor Abdullahi Iro told Reuters.
One district had no water as a result of the damage.
The government also ordered heavy trucks to stop using the main bridge linking the two parts of Hargeisa. The bridge was built in 1968 and has been neglected since then.
Yusuf Abdi, who lives near the riverbank, said that it was the worst flood he had seen since 1953. The office of Handicap International, a British charity in the city, had to be evacuated after it was flooded.
The raging waters uprooted large trees along the river bed and swept away many cars, leaving them hanging on the riverbank or buried under mud.
