About 7 000 people have been left homeless by raging flood waters in southern Ethiopia after heavy rain caused rivers to burst their banks in the Horn of Africa’s Oromia state, official media reported on Monday.
The state-run Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) said at least one person was swept away and killed by the water along with 23 livestock on Monday as the Awash and Meki rivers spilled over an 814ha swathe of Oromia farmland.
About 3 400 of those displaced are stranded in the Gara Leman locality, about 225km south of Addis Ababa, where authorities have managed to rescue 455 people, ENA said, citing a regional official.
Oromia administrator Jibril Mohammed has appealed to the capital for assistance as rescue efforts have been hampered by continued rain in the upriver highlands, ENA said.
In April, flash floods caused by similar heavy rains killed about 170 people and left more than 260 000 others homeless in south-eastern Ethiopia. — Sapa-AFP