Torrential rains in Yemen claim 60 lives

Dubai (AFP): Flooding caused by torrential rainfall in war-torn Yemen has led to at least 60 deaths since July, with 13 others still missing and a total of 268,000 people affected, the United Nations said Monday.

Yemen, already grappling with an almost decade-long war, suffers from severe floods on a near-annual basis that are triggered by torrential rainfall, while climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of precipitation.

Since July, flash floods have caused 36 deaths in Hodeida province, nine in Ibb, eight in Marib, and seven in Taiz, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said in a report released on Monday.

"Public infrastructure, including schools, roads, and health facilities, have been affected. Livelihoods that were already hanging by a thread have been swept away," OCHA said.

At least 600 people were injured due to flooding in Hodeida and Marib alone, it said, adding that a total of 13 people were still missing in Hodeida and Taiz.

It added that a total of 38,285 families -- nearly 268,000 people -- have been affected, saying that "severe weather is expected to persist into September, with additional alerts for heavy rainfall."

The University of Notre Dame's Global Adaptation Initiative ranks Yemen as one of the region's most climate-vulnerable countries.

In recent years, it has experienced an increase in the frequency and intensity of rainfall due to climate change, stimulated by atmospheric circulation in the Indian Ocean, according to a 2023 report by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Norwegian Red Cross.

The country also suffered heavy flooding in 2019, 2020, and 2021, the report said.

Yemen has been gripped by a war that erupted nearly a decade ago when Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, sending the internationally-recognised government fleeing to the southern city of Aden.

The following year Saudi Arabia formed a multi-national coalition in support of Yemen's deposed government, attempting to restore government control with a bombing campaign and a blockade that have caused mass civilian casualties.

The conflict has triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with aid deliveries complicated by insecurity and logistical difficulties.

Last week, the UN warned that $4.9 million was urgently needed to scale up the emergency response to Yemen's extreme weather conditions.